November 16: Of raising children and disaster relief...

Ezekiel 33:1-34:31

Hebrews 13:1-25

Psalm 115:1-18

Proverbs 27:21-22

I found the way God talked about the land of Israel interesting.  He did not say it was owned by the people of Israel; rather, that they possessed it, which struck me to mean "had it in order to use it", without the rights of ownership.  It seems to me, then, that what we have isn't ours - God merely allows us its use...for His purposes, not ours (note how He calls out those who disobey His commands!).  What then are His purposes?  The readings today give us some idea.  

We are likened to watchmen tasked with alerting the people of any approaching threat; if we don't, we are responsible for that person's fate.  To me, this is most evident as a father to my children.  I am not called to be their friend, but the father God gave them to help them grow in the ways of God, into the people He plans for them to become.  Yet though they are my children, it is so difficult to get them to listen, to obey, to build the habits I believe they need to have, the relationship with God I want them to have.  Sometimes I feel I am not even "one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear [my] words but do not put them into practice".  How much more difficult other people?  The reading still gives us guidance - we are not held accountable for the results; we are held accountable for the effort.

What else are we called to do?  Today's reading in Hebrews helps too...we are to keep loving one another as brothers and sisters, show hospitality to strangers, remember those in prison - as though we were together with them! - and those mistreated - as though we ourselves were suffering!  That is pretty tough, but we are blessed to have an abundance of role models today, some of them from halfway around the world, where so much of the world has focused and so many have converged to share in, and try to, alleviate the pain and suffering caused by typhoon Haiyan.  Not just nations, but individuals from around the world have given of themselves to try and help - I hear news of friends who have taken their own planes and their own ferries to move goods to the disaster areas; there is that story of the Japanese boy donating his life savings; there is the picture of two little girls in California running a lemonade stand to raise funds.  

Sometimes, when I try to do what I can, be it when raising our kids or trying to help those affected by the typhoon, my efforts seem so small and so insignificant, against challenges that seem insurmountably large.  How wonderful to be reminded by the psalmist: "All you Israelites, trust in the Lord - He is their help and their shield."  And so, as Paul writes, "we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?'"

What challenges seem most relentlessly daunting to you?  And how do you remind yourself that God is in control?