He never leaves Himself without a witness. This is a truth that I have been learning in new ways these days. Sometimes it feels like the world is spinning out of control. Sometimes
when I look at the world around me, evil seems quite powerful and I find myself
wondering at the restraint of God in many situations.
All one has to do is to take a look at the headlines
- A pastor being condemned to death simply for refusing to
deny His Savior.
- Thousands whose names we don’t know who suffer daily for
their faith.
- Wars and rumors of war in the middle east, central asia
and Africa.
- Millions of orphans around the world.
- Millions who don’t know where there next meal is coming
for.
It is tempting but inadvisable to shut out those images by
not watching or reading the news.
But how long before it hits much closer to home?
- When you receive word that a seminary friend died on the
mission field from an accident less than two months after arriving?
- When a friend’s mother-in-law dies 30 years before her
time?
- When a neighbor is lost and struggling?
- When co-workers battle major health concerns?
Evil and suffering are real and we wonder where Jesus is in
it all. And yet….the beautiful thing is
that He never leaves Himself without a witness if we only have eyes to see and
ears to hear.
I have been struck anew by this reality and seen it several
times in the last week alone
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| Ruth meets Boaz from http://www.bible-art.info |
My small group has been reading through the Bible and this
last week we read the book of Judges. Not
the most uplifting book. I finished and found
myself shocked again at the perversity and depravity of man. I asked Jesus what He wanted to say to us
through this book? I felt like He told
me to turn the page. I did and do you
know comes after Judges? Ruth. One of the greatest love stories in the
Bible. A story of redemption and a true
picture of what God the Father had in mind for the redemption of all of
mankind. A kinsman-redeemer, while
strange to our ears was very familiar to this audience and God knew we needed
someone who was “kin” to us, someone that was fully human but also someone who
was fully God to redeem us from sin and death.
This book that begins with famine, death and despair ends with Naomi
holding the grandfather of King David on her lap. The root of Jesse through whom our Savior would one day come. What a story.
But do you know what the amazing thing is? I had never noticed the first line of the
little book of Ruth. It says, “In the
days when the judges ruled…” In the days
when depravity ruled the earth God gives us this beautiful story to those with
ears to hear and eyes to see. I love
it! He never leaves Himself without a
witness.
Later that week was Fasching here in Kandern. It is a Carnival, Mardi Gras type of
celebration, complete with scary costumes, large amounts of alcohol and all
that goes with it. The music and noise
could be heard all day just outside my apartment. That evening though I went to the concert of
a local missionary. She is a concert
pianist and uses her talent to share the Gospel. So the German community was invited and the
Gospel was shared in the context of a beautiful concert. A witness, a light on a dark day. What a blessing. |
| Marcia, Barb and Michelle |
The next day I had the privilege of taking three wonderful
ladies from my home church to visit the city of Strasbourg. We took a boat tour of the city learned that one of the oldest
Protestant churches in France
is now a theater. This similar situation
was repeated later on in the tour breaking my heart for a country and a
continent that has produced the likes of John Calvin (who lived several years
in Strasbourg),
Blaise Pascal, Martin Luther, the Pietists and Fenelon and yet they are
virtually unknown. But in the midst of
grieving this loss I looked up and to my right I saw a huge banner, easily read
from the boat, for an Alpha Course inviting people to come and explore
Christianity.
A light, a witness in a
dark place.
 |
| The steeple of Notre Dame de Strasbourg. Pointing heavenward. |
I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me these precious
reminders that even when the darkness seems great – He is greater still. And He is not distant, He is not uninvolved –
He is in it with us and longing for us to see the light that He is shining even
in the dark places. The voice of a
pastor who has been condemned to die echoing around the world. The voice of an author (Eric Metaxas)
speaking profound and courageous truths at the National Prayer Breakfast. The voice of a Victoria Secret model who did
what was foolish in the eyes of the world and quit her job in order to honor
God and her husband. He never leaves
Himself without a witness. How have you
seen Him lately?
Hebrews 2:8b-9
“Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left
nothing outside his control. At present,
we do not yet see everything in subjections to him…but we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the
angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of
death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
