There's nothing like the smell of the earth after a thunderstorm. It's as if it's been re-birthed and as such, it is fresh and new and for me it's something beautiful and comforting, even when it happens in another country.
At the same time I couldn't help but think of the tent city right below us. With drenched tarps and tents that provided little shelter for one person let alone a family.
As a thunderstorm is upon us here back home I am reminded of all that I've seen and experienced during my stay in Haiti.
Sleeping on the roof as a rainstorm began to fall had to be just one of my many favorite moments. After it passed, it was suddenly peaceful almost as if it hadn't even rained in the first place. Of course there was a trace of it, considering the now puddled roof, we trekked through rebar back to our cots.
As I lay there again, with the sweet smell of post rain in the air, I am comforted by God's ever powerful Hand. He created this earth, and whatever He says for it to do, it responds. He has ultimate control of it. So how many times do I try to have control over something that I didn't create? It makes sense that a creator is the only one who has the power to change or move what they've done. I can't take a painting that I didn't paint and try to share an entire testimony of what the meaning is behind it because only the painter knows what they were feeling when they painted it. I as someone on the outside looking at it, can only either be moved by it, relate to it and appreciate the artistry. I wouldn't dare suggest that it look a certain way because perhaps to the painter, what is presented is exactly what they were going for.
I feel that God is like that with me sometimes. He may present something and I think, well, that can't be right. Wouldn't it be better this way? But I don't have His vision and what He has given me is exactly what He intended. He doesn't make mistakes. His way is perfect! [Psalm 18:30-35]
This same God who we go to church to learn about, or revolve our small groups and youth groups around, is very much the same God that is working all over the world and meets every single person's needs. Even those in a tent city in Haiti.
Though, I think to myself sometimes that we tend to think of God as this far away, limited, genie that is only around to grant our every wish. That we have everything under control and maybe, just maybe if we get into a tight spot we can pull out our emergency request and *blink* it's all taken care of. Really? I'm sitting here watching the rain fall into the farm land behind my house and there are birds coming out of the woodwork into the field. Why? They know that the worms will come up in a rain. The moisture in the air makes it easier for them to travel longer distances. So naturally they take the opportunity during a rain to relocate. The birds know they can take advantage of this and have a meal to fill their bellies. I couldn't have provided that, let alone impart this knowledge to them so that they could fend for themselves. I am just astounded!! It is just what the scripture talks about:
"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" -Matthew 6:26
I think we need a serious wake-up call and not one that you can just snooze away! God isn't this timid, limited, far-away mythical being that is barely present in our lives. [Though we may treat Him as such sometimes...] He is powerful, willing and wanting to work great things in our lives. He wants to be a part of everything that we do. He is invested in us because He created us. Why wouldn't He want the very best for His creation?! Why is it that we sometimes think that the God who worked miracles back in bible days can't do the same thing now? He is one in the same. Always. Perhaps it's because we haven't been in a position that we've really needed to depend on God as if He was our very last breath. It seems that we only do so when everything has been taken away or something doesn't go our way. I'm not saying that you need to be in a difficult place to really know God. The Lord doesn't want any of us to suffer. Life can be cruel though and we aren't always going to have a red carpet rolled out in front us.
Going to church in Haiti spoke to my spirit. Here are people who I feel know God better than I know Him myself. Sure they have had a tragedy and lost a lot. But even for those that may not have been affected personally by the tragedy have made a decision to cling to the Almighty. I remembered a line from Britt Nicole's song and it says:
"Hanging on to every word you speak
'cause it's all that I need
Hanging on to every word you say
'cause you light up my way
Even every little whisper I'm
Hanging on as if it were my life
I'm hanging on"
That sort of faith blows my mind. That is the sort of faith that I strive to have. I have seen God answer prayers, even immediately for rain in Panama. I remember my team and I hadn't even finished praying and it started to pour. I think to myself that I too can be like the Pharisees. See what God has done and then not respond to it, or like the Israelites and forget what God has done for me.
Isn't it human though? To experience deliverance from the Red Sea and in the next moment while we are waiting on Him, if it's too long we decide to take matters into our own hands and mold a golden calf to worship Yahweh on our terms rather than His. We need to have and see some sort of sign that God is moving. I'm telling you, those blind men that encountered Jesus, saw better before their healing than I do in most cases.
"When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, 'Son of David, have mercy on us!' And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him, And Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'According to your faith let it be to you.' And their eyes were opened..." -Matthew 9:27-30
This story is so profound, the power lies in the question Jesus posed. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" It's a question of faith. How is your faith? Regardless of what the outcome will be, regardless of whether or not your prayers get answered right away or they take time. God hears us in our difficult moments and He rejoices with us in our joyful ones. Praise the Lord for He is ultimately in control. Do you really trust Jesus?
"There is a perfect passivity which is not indolence. It is a living stillness born of trust. Quiet tension is not trust. It is simply compressed anxiety." -Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
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