Look for the Helpers

As I was making preparations  for this blog regarding natural disasters, my husband shared with me an encouraging story of how Mr. Rogers mother taught him a very important lesson about life, and that is when tragedy occurs, look for the helpers. When I heard this I immediately wrote it down.  The other day as I sat in the booth of a local restaurant writing my notes, the Lord reminded me about a  familiar story that Jesus taught regarding what I would consider a very famous hero in the Bible:  The Good Samaritan.  He tells us about a man who was traveling and was attacked by bandits, and that they stole his clothing, beat him and left him half dead by the side of the road. I think all of us can agree that this was a very tragic thing to happen to this man, but the most encouraging part of this story is that a “helper” arrived on the scene. In fact, God sent more than one helper, but only one had compassion which compelled him  to stop and care for the man,  “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’’ Luke 10:31-33 NLT.

We must remember that God does not bring evil upon anyone, He only brings good: So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.  Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” James 1:16,17.  The evil that is already here in the earth first manifested itself in heaven, when Lucifer (now known as the devil) who was one of God’s angels decided he wanted God’s power and gathered other angels to join his army, but God would not have it, so he cast him out of heaven,  Jesus speaks of this  in Luke 10 verse 18, “…I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!” After God created Adam and Eve the same devil appeared to Eve in the garden in the form of a serpent, tempting her to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and when she and Adam ate the fruit that God commanded them not to eat, sin entered the earth.  Because they disobeyed God, evil  was present and at work in the earth, but the good news is, because of God’s love and mercy for mankind the cycle started to redeem (save) mankind by bringing his Son Jesus, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.

When evil presents itself  in the form of tragedy or disaster God is ALWAYS there in the form of compassion, just like the Good Samaritan.

You may be asking yourself, “Why then do natural disasters occur?”  It all began in the beginning. Remember I shared about Adam and Eve? And how God told them they could eat from every other tree in the garden, except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Well not only did their fall produce sin in their own lives and lives of those to come, evil was now released in the earth.  Jesus teaches us who is responsible for the evil that is present in the earth, ” The thief’s (devil) purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10.  The good news? God’s love is always with us, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Let’s look at this last verse a little closer, “No power in the SKY ABOVE (tornadoe’s, typhoons, hurricanes etc.) or in the EARTH BELOW (floods, tsunami’s, earthquakes etc.) Indeed, NOTHING IN ALL CREATION (God’s creation, earth, sky and sea) will ever be able to separate us from the love of God…” Romans 8:35-39. NLT  What amazes me about those four verses is this:  Five times God promises that nothing  can separate us from God’s love.

So in this earth many will witness earthquakes, tsunami’s, tornadoe’s and other evils or destruction both natural and those instituted by mankind.  The word of God teaches us about the “last days” and in these last days, before the return of Jesus, the earth will  experience “contractions”,  (For more regarding this subject, listen to Pastor Rick Tidwell’s message “Labor Pains” )  similar to that of a woman who is in labor and especially  just before her baby is born, her contractions become stronger and more frequent.  We must remember that when evil is present, God’s love is ever present bringing help, comfort and healing through the hands of caring individuals all across the globe, God is present in the “Helpers”.

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