Pass Christian
by Jason Stenhouse
I was in Pass Christian, Mississippi this weekend, helping some people clean up the destruction brought by Hurricane Katrina. My thoughts have been a jumble these past few days as I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what it is that I just took in. I have seen, though, a common thread running through my haphazard experiences and impressions. I have been reminded that God is faithful.
This year I have been trying to read the entire Bible, but I haven’t been keeping up with it. My Bible tells me that it is September 6th, but today is really October 30th. I’m a little behind. It’s good though, because God often orders things in a specific way, so that He may speak to us. He brought me to the book of Joel today. I don’t know of any other book that is more fitting theme-wise for our experience over the weekend.
Joel tells of a great day of judgment in Israel. A great army of locusts have come to destroy all that is green in Israel. “The great locusts have eaten…The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree—all the trees of the field—are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away” (1:4, 12). The people are mourning, for there is nothing left. I find that these locusts are a great picture for Katrina and the destruction that she has caused down on the coast. There is almost nothing left in Pass Christian except maybe a sense of sorrow. It is as if a nuclear bomb went off, bringing everything down.
But in the midst of all this, Joel proclaims a message of hope: “‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning…’ and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (2:12, 32). And with this salvation, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed” (2:25, 26). What truth, that in all this sorrow and destruction God is still calling out to all who would come to Him. He is just screaming, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). There is hope in every situation, even in the dimmest of places; even in Pass Christian.
I was in Pass Christian, Mississippi this weekend, helping some people clean up the destruction brought by Hurricane Katrina. My thoughts have been a jumble these past few days as I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what it is that I just took in. I have seen, though, a common thread running through my haphazard experiences and impressions. I have been reminded that God is faithful.
This year I have been trying to read the entire Bible, but I haven’t been keeping up with it. My Bible tells me that it is September 6th, but today is really October 30th. I’m a little behind. It’s good though, because God often orders things in a specific way, so that He may speak to us. He brought me to the book of Joel today. I don’t know of any other book that is more fitting theme-wise for our experience over the weekend.
Joel tells of a great day of judgment in Israel. A great army of locusts have come to destroy all that is green in Israel. “The great locusts have eaten…The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree—all the trees of the field—are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away” (1:4, 12). The people are mourning, for there is nothing left. I find that these locusts are a great picture for Katrina and the destruction that she has caused down on the coast. There is almost nothing left in Pass Christian except maybe a sense of sorrow. It is as if a nuclear bomb went off, bringing everything down.
But in the midst of all this, Joel proclaims a message of hope: “‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning…’ and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (2:12, 32). And with this salvation, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed” (2:25, 26). What truth, that in all this sorrow and destruction God is still calling out to all who would come to Him. He is just screaming, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). There is hope in every situation, even in the dimmest of places; even in Pass Christian.
posted at 1:52 PM
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