Tuesday, October 29, 2019
I Could Have Been Eaten by a Bear
The bears were everywhere. In groups, walking around, laying in the sun. And we were close. Sometimes within just a few yards.
They could have eaten me anytime they wanted. Real danger. I must be a real brave hero.
Except that we were in the car with the windows rolled up. And they were in a large fenced-in area.
We were driving thru Bearizona by the Grand Canyon. So I guess we were not really in danger and I am not all that brave.
But it did make me think about a couple of things.
Some of us seem to think Satan and sin works like the bears in a drive-thru animal park. I mean he is real and all that but not really much of a threat. Maybe like a roaring lion but not really going to devour any of us. Except he is real and he will destroy you. I am smart enough to know that those bears could be very dangerous if I were to get out of the car and approach them. I should be that smart about Satan and so should you.
And it is not really very courageous to drive thru a park like that. So it is pretty silly for me to claim that I am out in the wild fighting ferocious beasts. And pretty silly for us to claim we are willing to get involved in our community of faith to the extent that when people are fighting for their spiritual lives we are right there with them when what we really mean is a few prayers and a pat on the back. Real restoration means out of the car and not in the park. It is wading into the blood and mud where the wounded brother needs help to get up. It is walking beside them at their worst ... and seeing their best. It is late nights and tears and pain. It is losing sleep and showing up when it is not easy.
And I really wasn't in the wilderness. I was in a park. Kinda like working a couple of hours in a soup kitchen and claiming to have engaged the disenfranchised in our world. Or spending a week on a short-term mission trip and claiming to have gone into the hard places with the gospel. Nothing wrong with those things. Just don't make them into what they are not.
So I loved Bearizona. Would like to go back. Enjoyed seeing the animals. Learned something about them. But didn't take much courage. And I was not in the wilderness.
Just like sitting in the church building and talking about Satan and assuring each other that we want to live courageous lives for Jesus.
So let's go into a real world and fight a real Satan with real people needing a real Savior. Let's be courageous and trust God to protect us. Pick each other up, stitch up the wounded, and fight for our faith and fight along side those who need help.
God give us the courage to get out of the building into a world where we are needed. And where your Son went. And where you have told us to go.
They could have eaten me anytime they wanted. Real danger. I must be a real brave hero.
Except that we were in the car with the windows rolled up. And they were in a large fenced-in area.
We were driving thru Bearizona by the Grand Canyon. So I guess we were not really in danger and I am not all that brave.
But it did make me think about a couple of things.
Some of us seem to think Satan and sin works like the bears in a drive-thru animal park. I mean he is real and all that but not really much of a threat. Maybe like a roaring lion but not really going to devour any of us. Except he is real and he will destroy you. I am smart enough to know that those bears could be very dangerous if I were to get out of the car and approach them. I should be that smart about Satan and so should you.
And it is not really very courageous to drive thru a park like that. So it is pretty silly for me to claim that I am out in the wild fighting ferocious beasts. And pretty silly for us to claim we are willing to get involved in our community of faith to the extent that when people are fighting for their spiritual lives we are right there with them when what we really mean is a few prayers and a pat on the back. Real restoration means out of the car and not in the park. It is wading into the blood and mud where the wounded brother needs help to get up. It is walking beside them at their worst ... and seeing their best. It is late nights and tears and pain. It is losing sleep and showing up when it is not easy.
And I really wasn't in the wilderness. I was in a park. Kinda like working a couple of hours in a soup kitchen and claiming to have engaged the disenfranchised in our world. Or spending a week on a short-term mission trip and claiming to have gone into the hard places with the gospel. Nothing wrong with those things. Just don't make them into what they are not.
So I loved Bearizona. Would like to go back. Enjoyed seeing the animals. Learned something about them. But didn't take much courage. And I was not in the wilderness.
Just like sitting in the church building and talking about Satan and assuring each other that we want to live courageous lives for Jesus.
So let's go into a real world and fight a real Satan with real people needing a real Savior. Let's be courageous and trust God to protect us. Pick each other up, stitch up the wounded, and fight for our faith and fight along side those who need help.
God give us the courage to get out of the building into a world where we are needed. And where your Son went. And where you have told us to go.
