OPEN :
- Why such a pain for my Brothers and Sisters in Sri Lanka?
- Why so much killing..violence ?
- When will God judgment such cruelty ?
- Why did God allow this to happen?
When Rev. Billy Graham was addressed the world, he answered such questions, by saying “I don’t know, …(repeat).. but I accept by faith …. that God… is a God of love, mercy and compassion, even in times of suffering and darkness.”—(repeat)
Today we can stand and say with all assurance that:
Yes, Even though this week, It has been a sad-sad week, Specially for Christians in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world, Yes it has broke our hearts to hear this news and see them crying, but In our Faith : we still say…
“ God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble.” Ps 42:1
AMEN…!
Hebrews 13:5: ‘..for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’
WHEN you watch the news on TV, and see our Brothers and Sisters mourning in Sri Lanka, you see them crying and wailing with such a pain pouring out in their tears. And yes, with such loss any human will react that way, but we also see them praying, while the tears rolling down their cheeks, you see them praying..with that faith ..that….
‘God I know you see all these..’
'God I know that you will never leave me never forsake me..’
‘God I know you … you are there with me.. , and… this is very hard for me… But … You know what I feel .. cause you too been there..’
‘God …. I am not alone…!’
We can read such faith… on those wailing faces .. Such faith in God… even in the mist of the toughest time…! Such time that they have never experience in their lives before.. to have their spouse, their child been killed on spot… in church…!
18 ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.’
In this verse and many places in scriptures we see God’s people suffering. Jesus suffered, and was persecuted too. He warned us that those who follow Him, will be persecute also.
But at the same-time, the pain is as real as we can ever imagine. The cry and suffering of His people is increasingly noted in the worldwide news. Yes it hurts - It hurts to see those we thought they were our friends, turn gourd and break our hearts. Our neighbors or class mates or those you work with … you don’t hate them. And their betrayal can break your heart too.
-18 ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.’
At times like such, we take refuge in the one who never leaves us and so we pray :
- “ The Lord is my Refuge”
- “ The Lord is my Shepherd”
- Though I walk through the darkest valley of my life.. My God, you are with me…
- You will never leave me never forsake me.
- And…. at the end I know… You are a good - good Father, and you will satisfy me .. with the Best!
- Yes, what Satan has meant for evil. But you God... You will take it, and make it and turn it in GOOD…Yaaa..
You My Lord, You are an expert in making Beauty out of Ashes”
- Yes God, You are bigger than this Big Mountain that has fallen upon us. Yes, You are bigger and greater.
We are taught to call upon him when it feels like there is NO-Way, but we know that He is our way.
Amen.
ILL. On the first anniversary of 9/11, TIME magazine had a article about 31-year old Genelle Guzman. She was the last person caught in the debris of the Twin Towers to be found alive.
After the planes hit, Genelle was descending a staircase from the 64th floor of the North Tower when it all came crashing down around her. Her right leg was pinned under heavy concrete. Her head was caught between stacks of wreckage. But there was an air-pocket around her, & for 27 hours she lay there, trapped & seriously injured.
Genelle had recently started attending church, & had been wanting to get her life turned around. So while she was stuck in the rubble, she started to pray. She would pray for awhile, & then lose consciousness. Over & over again she would wake up & start praying, then trail off, & then wake up & pray some more.
Shortly after noon on Sept. 12th, she heard voices. So she screamed as loud as she could, “I’m here! Hey, I’m right here!” A rescue worker responded, "Where are you? Do you see our lights?" She didn’t.
So with her free arm she took a piece of concrete & banged it against the broken stairway. The searchers followed the noise to a cracked & broken wall, & began to shine their lights through it.
It was at this point that Genelle wedged her hand through one of the cracks & someone grabbed it. She heard a voice say, "Genelle, I’ve got you. You're going to be all right. My name is Paul. I won't let go of your hand until they get you out."
Genelle responded, "'Oh, thank God! Finally, someone has found me. Thank you God!' I tried to see who it was but my eyes were so encrusted that I couldn't make out a face, though I could feel his hand holding mine."
"As soon as he grabbed my hand, I felt complete calmness throughout my body. Paul kept telling me I would be all right, & I believed him. I kept his name in my head because I wanted to meet him when I got out of there, to thank him."
"I could hear men moving steel & concrete above me, trying to get to me. Finally, two men took hold of my shoulders & Paul let go of my hand." And Genelle Guzman, the last person rescued alive, cried out, "Oh God, thank you!”
On Nov. 7, after spending weeks in the hospital, undergoing 4 surgeries & hours of physical therapy, she kept two promises she had made while trapped under the rubble. She & Roger were married, & that evening she was baptized into Jesus Christ.
Genelle recalls, "After I got out of the hospital, a reporter interviewed me along with some of the men who rescued me. When I asked them about Paul, who held my hand & calmed me when I thought I couldn't go on, they were puzzled.
They told me, "There was no one named Paul on our team." But I insisted, "Someone was holding my hand for at least 20 minutes when you were digging me out. He told me his name was Paul. I kept reminding myself of his name because I wanted to thank him."
With a puzzled expression on his face, the leader of the rescue team said, "I'm sorry, but there was nobody holding your hand when we were removing the rubble." (TIME Magazine, 9/11/02, p. 38) ("Breakthrough Prayer" by Jim Cymbala, Zondervan, p 74)
IT is said that the story of Genelle's rescue has been told many times on television & radio programs & in magazine & newspaper articles, & no one named Paul has ever stepped forward to take credit for what happened that day. And we can imagine who that was!
Sometimes, we feel like buried under such trouble and pain that it feels like there is No Way Out!. Mourning Brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka might be experiencing such an excruciating pain, Many others be crying out with such pain too. This morning, the helping words from Palms: 42, 34, 91 are our anchors to hold on, while going through such storm.
— Here, in this incidence, we see God’s help physically manifesting. But many times… it feels like God is not seen anywhere! And yet, at times his children experience His presence in a gentle breeze…! Do you Remember that poem: Foot Print?
Q: How many of you know poem called Foot-Print? (Put your hands in the air if you have…). Most of us have read this beautiful poem called Footprints. It has brought comfort to thousands, all over the world.
I came to know this story through one of the preacher who tells it beautifully. What’s interesting is that the lady who wrote Footprints, Margaret Fishbeck, went through tough times and trials in her life. The person that she loved, left her. Then make things worse, she caught Meningitis, and was literally bedridden for many months. As you can imagine, She was experiencing the lowest time of her life.
Well, During that time, another man fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. But she wouldn’t marry him. The trials and tribulation of the life had harden her heart. She basically said, "I’m out of trust. I’m not sure I trust God. I know I don’t trust men. I’m out of trust."
One night in her diary as she lay in bed, she began to write that beautiful piece, Footprints. And that night she saw the answer.
I’ll just take a moment to read it to you, if you’ve never heard it:
"One night a man had a dream, and he dreamed that he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes of his life, and for each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him and the other belonging to the Lord. After the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. And he also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and at the very saddest times of his life.
This really bothered him, and he questioned the Lord about it. He said, ’Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I’ve noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there’s only one set of footprints. I don’t understand, Lord. Why, when I needed you the very most, you would leave me?’ And the Lord replied, ’My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then, that I carried you.’"
As I conclude my sermon here, I pray that this beautiful poem, may once again, touch sore hearts and heal the wounded. Yes ‘ There is a balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole’, that Balm is the Love of God, that is with us, always.
As you come in contact with those who are suffering, Face to face, may be on FaceBook, or other way online… Remember to lift them up and remind them that God is with them, though it feels like he is not, just like this poem. and Pray for them. Pray that they will experience the supernatural peace of God upon them, the peace that is beyond our word or beyond our understanding, peace in God.
Amen.
some portions/ illustrations adopted from sermons: 9/11 - We Must Remember By Melvin Newland and sermon by Greg Cooper @ sermoncentral.com
