The picture I have placed here is of a solitary man standing in the middle of all the rubble of what is left of the Twin Towers.
It isn't hard to get
inside his mind to know what he is thinking. 'Am I dreaming
this? Is it real? How? Why? Who would do such a
thing?
Questions begging for
answers...
No, it wasn't a dream
or some movie: it happened when men mad with blind hatred spoke their rage with
an insane attack on innocent people they didn't even know.
It made no sense and
still doesn't. But people without the love of God are driven by their demons to
inflict pain and suffering on others. It is all the consequence of
evil.
Sadly, there is
always the rubble that
remains.
-----
Have you ever stood
looking at the rubble in your life? Plans that didn't work out? Marriages
that came apart? Friends who left you, children that went astray from all
the good you tried to teach them? Disease, sickness, debt. All you worked
for gone in an instant? It can be a pretty big pile of rubbish.
In some, the hurt is
too much and death itself becomes a welcome thought. Others never
seem to recover, but carry the pain the rest of their lives and
it sticks to their heart like super glue.
I've been there.
And so have you.
But I've also
learned something else: Jesus is there sharing that pain
also, for He never leaves nor forsakes us.
-----
When my dear husband
passed away, the funeral was held in a downpour. It was cold and I was
standing there, my heart shattered into. All I could see was a pile of
dreams suddenly blasted apart...so alone. The next morning I sauntered
outside in the early morning. I couldn't sleep. All I could do was
to say to the Lord, "how will I go on without him?" I felt like dying
myself.
It was dark, but in the
east a faint light was about to signal the arrival of another day.
Suddenly, I heard an incredible sound like a million birds singing. I
thought to myself, "I have never heard those birds before. They are so loud,
surely they will wake up everyone."
Just then, the
Lord spoke to me. "Do you hear those birds?"
"Of course, they will
wake up the entire neighborhood!"
Then he said to me,
"Mary, some of those
birds lost their mates yesterday, but they got up to sing and praise me for this
day anyway. So can you!". I will never forget that word from the Lord. It gave me the
strength to go down the road ahead once again, knowing He was with
me...always.
-----
Another time, I was
distraught. All I could see was the rubble,,,again. Suddenly, I envisioned the Grand Canyon,
gouged and torn apart. "That's just the way I feel right now!" I
cried. Then it came:"
Mary, all you see is a
canyon and all the destructive forces that cut through those canyons long
ago. But remember this: millions of people come here every year just
to see such beauty, stand in awe, and give Me praise for the
masterpiece I created."
I didn't realize it at
the time, but He was trying to do the same in me.
-----
When I look at the
picture above, I, too, see rubble and destruction. For certain, once again
there will still be times my personal rubble pile will be all I can
see, and doubtless our country also will have its times of despair
again--
It happened at Valley Forge,It happened at Normandy.It happened at Pearl---
Yet, if we will
but listen, hope will always speak to us through all that
rubble.
It's all we
have.
It's all we
need.
MARY E.
ADAMS
September 11,
2010