by Donna (Eagels2200@aol.com)

We are all so heavily burdened right now over the recent events of children killing children. It is difficult to understand how something so horrendous can be happening, and it is frightening.

When I was poisoned at work, and then fired for being ill, I had a nervous breakdown, and went into severe clinical depression. You see, I believed that I had rights under the law, and that my company would not abuse and abandon me because they had made me ill. I believed that I would be compensated for such a thing, and cared for so that I could get well. I was wrong.

What brought me through? My faith in Jesus Christ, and the blessings He gave me, of course, but my faith was even shaken at the time.

A friend of Nancy’s from work was going to sing a solo in his church and wanted us to hear it. I was too ill to go, and so he taped it for us along with the sermon done on that day. That tape, and listening to it over and over again, and crying over and over again, was one of the reasons that I could again reclaim my relationship with God, and claim an even stronger one than ever before. I learned that bad things can and do happen to us, but God does not will them or want them. When bad things happen to us, God does jump in and make something good come from the experience for us.

Our friend, Scott, sang the song, "I Believe", and the pastor then wove the song into his message that day. It was the Sunday after the Oklahoma City bombing. Here are some excerpts from his message:

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"Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Hell.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and yet not one of them can fall to the ground apart from the Father? Even the hairs on your head will be counted. So, be not afraid, for you are of far more value than many sparrows."

I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.

I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows.

I believe for everyone who goes astray

someone will come to show the way.

I believe. I believe.

I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard.

I believe that Someone in the great somewhere hears every word. Every time I hear a newborn baby cry, or touch a leaf, or see the sky, then I know why I believe.

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There are some people who are trustworthy, and you still can’t trust. There are some people in life who you think you can always trust, and they don’t come through for you. There are some people who, even with all the integrity they have, disappoint you.

But I am here to share with you today, that there is ONE. There is ONE who you can trust. He’s not going to let you down. And that is Our Lord Jesus Christ who has risen from the dead. And I want to share today some ways in which you can trust Him, because our trust in people is going to let us down once in a while. And how can we build that trust with God, with Jesus Christ?

We’ve heard Scott sing "I believe" and we have heard the scripture reading that God knows even when a sparrow falls, and even knows every hair on your head, and God knows everything about us. And so I want to share with you today about this God who knows us personally, and cares about us. And I want to begin by sharing with you this one point .... THAT OUR GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR EVERYTHING.

Let’s hear the first part of our song as we hear what that says. Listen to these words carefully:

I believe for every drop of rain that falls,

a flower grows.

I believe that somewhere in the darkest night,

a candle glows.

It is a comfort to know that even though we don’t understand everything, and even though we don’t always know why things happen, there is a purpose for everything. There is a purpose for everything even when everything seems to unravel. Obviously the events of Oklahoma City this week have touched all of our lives in some way. Certainly, watching the devastation on television has awakened our sensitivity to things, and many of the people of our congregation and their relatives have been emotionally hurt by this.

I think the part that alarms us more than anything is what we do to each other as fellow Americans. That disturbs us, and is an escalation of what happens on the streets of our cities and what we do to each other there. It just amplifies that even greater. It is an anger and and intolerance that we seem to be having—and you see it on talk shows. And I think this is where this is all leading --- this intolerance we have of each other. And I don’t understand it. I don’t agree with everything or everybody, but that doesn’t mean I get up and walk away, or go out and take my anger out on something or someone.

I work out in the gym every morning, and the man next to my locker lives out in a rural area, and every month he gets another gun from China. He talks about his big machine guns and how he has the house packed full of machine guns because the Government’s gonna get him some day ... and he’s ready. He’s gonna take ‘em on. It’s so scarey to talk to this man, and all he is doing is lifting weights for that day when he is going to have to use every bit of energy.

We don’t always understand it, but what I am going to try to convey to you today is that in spite of our not understanding it, I believe that God will have a purpose for this. Now, I want you to hear me: GOD DOES NOT WILL NOR DESIRE THINGS LIKE THAT WHICH HAPPENED IN OKLAHOMA CITY. THAT IS NOT GOOD.

But, I believe OUT of that experience, a good purpose will emerge. I believe that OUT of this experience, something positive will happen to some families, and I have an even greater desire that something good will happen to our nation. That we will put aside this intolerance we are going through because this is a sickening reminder of where that moves and leads.

We are one family as a nation, as a world, as Christians. We are one family, and we need to BELONG to each other. And I’m hoping that some of that purpose can emerge out of this, because our God created this world for a loving purpose --- a LOVING purpose --- not a destructive purpose, and God wants all good to happen.

So, my first point with you is that God has a purpose for everything. There have been people who have lost loved ones this year in senseless manners besides Oklahoma City. Drunk drivers have killed a couple of our members this year, and that is about as senseless as you can get, too.

And I believe that God can work through all that. I believe that God can even work when you go through times of cancer. I believe that God works through times of other personal tragedies. And I’m just INVITING YOU to LOOK FOR that purpose, and see that purpose, and not to be destroyed by that circumstance, but see the good purpose in that.

First of all, God has a loving and good purpose for everything in life. Second of all, God CARES about us. Let us listen to the next portion of that song:

I believe for everyone who goes astray,

someone will come to show the way.

I believe, I believe.

I wonder if anybody here has ever gone astray? I think we all know what it is to go astray. We have not always gone down the path we’ve always wanted to go down ... everything we wanted to do - we didn’t always do, and sometimes we are pretty embarrassed about some of the things we HAVE done. We all know that we have gone astray.

And what OUR GOD says to us is that our God comes after us. He invites us back into the family. That’s what Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "Today you shall be with Me in paradise." He says that to every one of us. He says, "Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." I will give you rest!!! He comes and invites us to be a part of His Kingdom --- even when we’ve gone astray and we think, "Oh, I can’t be accepted back again." BUT GOD ACCEPTS US BACK --- even when we go astray. We don’t always have the answers to life, but God always invites us back, and then He says, "Those of you who are weary and heavy-laden ... I will give you rest."

I think I know what it is to be heavy-laden. It is a young mother or father who has been with the kids all day. Playing kids stuff and talking kids talk, and yearning for an adult conversation. Then the phone rings, and it’s going to be two or three more hours before the spouse gets home. That’s to be weary and heavy-laden.

Weary and heavy-laden, is to work for the same company for 32 years, have your retirement kind of together, the last child is a Junior in College, and you need to stick it out to see him through, and then you’re laid off. And you know that even if you could find a job, that it isn’t going to be even close to the same kind of pay, and so a lot of dreams have been dashed, and you are really weary and heavy-laden after all the time you’ve put in.

To be weary and heavy-laden is to go down the corridor of a rest home, and watch those eyes look at a television or a wall, and reflect on where life has gone, and what is life, and where’s it going, and when’s it gonna end? That is to be weary and heavy-laden. And you can define it, I’m sure, yourself.

Our God comes to us and says, "All of you are weary and heavy-laden, come to Me and I will give you rest!" He gives an invitation that He will help us in our weariness. "Come to me, and I will give you rest."

The following piece of prose came to my desk years ago. I know it was written by a woman, but she remains anonymous. I find her words most poignent today:

My hands are old. I’ve never said that out loud before, but they are. I was proud of them once ... they were soft like the velvet smoothness of a firm, ripe peach, but now that softness is more like worn-out sheets and leathered leaves. When did these slender, graceful hands become gnarled, shrunken claws? When, God? They lie here in my lap as naked reminders of this worn-out body that has served me too well. How long, God, has it been since someone touched me? 20 years? 20 years I’ve been a widow. Now I am respected, smiled at, but I’ve not been touched. I’ve never been held so close that the loneliness was blotted out.

I remember how my mother used to hold me when I was a girl when I was hurt in spirit or flesh. She would gather me close and stroke my silk hair and caress my back with her warm hand. Oh God, I’m lonely.

I remember the first boy who ever kissed me. We were both so new at that that the taste of young lips and popcorn still is fresh in my mouth, and the feeling inside of mysteries to come. And I remember Hank and the babies. How else can I remember them, but together? And out of the fumbling attempts of new lovers came the babies ... and as they grew, so did our love. And, God, Hank didn’t seem to mind if my body thickened and faded a little --- he still loved it and touched it. And we didn’t even mind that we were no longer young and beautiful. And the children ... they hugged me a lot, but Oh, God, I’m lonely now.

God, why didn’t we raise our kids to be silly and affectionate as well as dignified and proper? You see, they do their duty. They drive up in their fine cars; they come to my room to pay their respects; they chatter brightly and reminisce with me ... but they don’t touch me. They call me Mom or Mother, or Grandma, but they never call me Minnie. My mother called me Minnie, and so did my friends, and Hank called me Minnie, too. But they’re gone. And so is Minnie. And, God, only Grandma’s here, and Grandma’s lonely.

Jesus Christ says to all of us, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and lonely....be not afraid I go with you always. Come follow Me and I will give you rest." I believe that above the storms, the prayer of a little girl with a splinter in her finger; of a grandmother with her hands in her lap watching Christmas decorations blink on and off in the rest home; of an executive who is trying to put together a business and he sees that it’s going nowhere and he’s wondering when it’s all going to collapse and fall apart --- no matter what, that little prayer will be heard. That the weariness of our life will find rest.

Our God has a purpose for everything. Even when we don’t understand it. Even in the midst of our tragedy, and God cares for us even in our weariness and our restlessness. And best of all, this God is available to each and every one of us. There are some people you can’t trust, but there is ONE who you CAN TRUST. The song, "I Believe", gives us three insights:

I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows. We have to keep hoping that out of all of this, something good will happen.

I believe for everyone who goes astray, someone will come to show the way. Yes, we do stray, but God calls us back. He calls us and invites us to come back home.

I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard. I believe that every prayer is heard, and that somewhere in the great somewhere there is a God who IS involved in this world.

Every one of those phrases talks about a living God who knows, and understands, and accepts.

We are free to do what we want. We can do tragic things to this world and to each other. But if we let Him, our God walks before us and guides us, and God even leads us, and I believe He will lead the people of Oklahoma City and all the relatives and friends there to a comfort and a presence of God that will give them strength.

God IS out there with a purpose and a care for every one of you."