Writing the Storm Out

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

Psalm 89:14

Here's a little context: it's midnight, I'm tired, and the lights are out in the bunkhouse. Unfortunately, I was awoken by a full-blown stuffy nose about half an hour ago and realized that I was in dire need of not only a Kleenex, but a toilet. Sadly, neither of those were present in the bunkhouse, so I had to come into the main building. While here, the rain started. Now, for those of you who know me, you know I'm a man's man: I'm not scared of getting wet or rained on or anything like that. This is a completely different story. The rainfall is torrential. It's amazing to watch, but frustrating that it stands between me and the prospects of a dry bed.

So here I am, at midnight, wanting to go to bed, but not willing to pass through the Red Sea to get there. While I wait out the storm, I figured a little update wouldn't be a bad thing (I'm in Bay St. Louis, MS, in case you didn't read the previous post).

We are digging a foundation (if you've ever dug a foundation, you'll know why this torrential rainfall ... unsettles me). I came expecting to build a roof or frame a house or fearing to paint. But the thought never crossed my mind that we would be put to work digging. Yet, as we work on the foundation, I realize that we are working on everything else. These people need homes that will last, and that only comes with a foundation that will stand. I'm sure everyone has heard a sermon on the wise man and the fool who each built a house, so I won't go into that here. I do want to talk about foundations, just in a different vein.

Go back and read the verse at the top again. It says that righteousness and justice are the foundations of God's throne. If our lives rest on God, His reign rests on righteousness and justice. Not ironically, these are two aspects of God's character that are most often questioned. How can a just God allow good people to suffer? How can a righteous God allow natural disasters like Katrina or tragedies like 9-11 to occur? Especially here, in the receding but very much lingering wake of the storm, God's justice is a sore subject. Where was justice in the destruction of thousands of homes, of businesses, of infrastructure? In fact, where was God at all?

These questions come from a faulty assumption that we don't deserve tragedy in our lives. That we somehow are exempt from suffering. In addition, there is a lack of trust in the plan of God. Yes the storm was painful, yes the damage and destruction was awful. But. Even now, just a few years afterward, rebuilding is evident. New homes, better than the ones that existed, are going up. Community exists, both in the church and in the streets, that was absent before. People's sinfulness and screwed up lives were revealed for what they really were, and restoration can happen.

One of the greatest challenges for me coming here is identifying with those whose lives are a mess. But I've been reminded (mostly through LPC's little devotion guide) that my life is just as much of a mess as theirs. Without Christ, I have no hope of pulling the pieces together and getting or keeping things in order. Without Christ, I cannot be restored to a right relationship with God. What a blessing it is for me to participate in a physical restoration that points to, with flashing lights and ringing bells, the greater restoration that Christ calls us to.