8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me-- A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my Rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"
10 As with a breaking of my bones, My enemies reproach me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
When our lives are in disarray and our hearts are in turmoil, we can go to the Lord to find peace for our souls. When we feel forgotten, we can recognize that God is with us. As the latest Faith Radio Ministry Magazine suggests, we are not alone - we can know and experience the nearness of God and bring His presence into the circumstances we face. He walks with us when we suffer and provides strength when we think we are weak.
This passage from Psalm 121 can help us to recognize on whom - we depend when trouble comes into our lives. It states:
(1) I will lift up my eyes to the hills-- From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
The death toll is well over 100 in those wildfires that have ravaged a portion of the Hawaiian island of Maui, in and around the city of Lahaina. That's the city where Harvest Christian Fellowship, based in Southern California and pastored by Faith Radio programmer Greg Laurie, has a church called Harvest at Kumulani Chapel.
Just days ago, Greg Laurie issued a blog post, in which he said:
As you know, devastating fires have effectively destroyed most of this old town of Lahaina and many lives have been lost. The number keeps climbing and there are a thousand people unaccounted for. This is so tragic.
And as you also know, we have a church there called Harvest Kumulani. It’s about 10 or 11 miles from downtown Lahaina. Our church has been dramatically affected. Many people in our congregation have had their homes burned down, but our church has a great sense of ohana. That’s Hawaiian for “family.” They’re pulling together. They’re caring for each other.
The Harvest ministry is working in the area and partnering with Samaritan's Purse, which, not unexpectedly, has a team on the ground. Pastor Greg noted:
We believe that our greatest message is hope. You know, hope. What is hope? An acronym for hope is holding on with patient expectation. And we want to bring help, hope, and perspective to people. And for those that don’t know Jesus, the hope of the gospel. And for those that believe, let them know that they are loved and that we care for them and we’re there to help them.
Harvest has established a relief fund for the wildfire victims.
A CBN article noted that there have been some 2000 buildings burned in the region, but Harvest at Kumulani Chapel and another church building have withstood the onslaught. And, the article made mention of some miracle stories. For instance...
The family of Joe Schilling says he died a hero, trying to assist his elderly neighbors.
Mike Cicchino and his wife were trapped on the beach. They took off their shirts, dunked them in water, and tried to cover their faces. Cicchino ran up and down the seawall, shouting his lost dogs' names. He saw dead bodies slumped next to the wall. "Help me," people screamed. Elderly and disabled people couldn't make it over the wall on their own. Some were badly burned, and Cicchino lifted as many as he could. He ran until he vomited from the smoke, his eyes nearly swollen shut.
CBN's Operation Blessing is on the ground, as well, working to bring assistance, along with partners such as Youth With a Mission. The article also notes the work of CityServe.
Baptist Press reported on the efforts to help in Lahaina, and quoted from Rocky Komatsu, pastor of Waiehu Community Church in the area. The article stated:
Southern Baptist churches are joining local non-profits and individual volunteers in what Komatsu called a “grassroots effort.” Anyone with a boat, helicopter or plane is collecting supplies and taking them from the central area of the island over to Lahaina in drop centers that have been set up. A select few people are authorized to enter by land.
In the midst of an interview with Baptist Press, Komatsu was helping load supplies with some people that he didn’t even know.
“The good thing is that the community as a whole is rallying around Lahaina,” he said.
“It’s pretty neat to see in the midst of this tragedy lots of people from all different walks of life coming together from different parts of the island. Our churches are partnering together to collecting supplies to provide for people in the shelters as well as to send to Lahaina.
Ron Hutchcraft, another Faith Radio programmer, also related that theme of hope on The Christian Post website, saying:
The racing flames in the iconic Lahaina community of Maui simply consumed everything in its path, often leaving only ashes where minutes before a building had stood.
The charming tourist magnet and idyllic community has suddenly become a desolate landscape of loss. Except for the tree. The 150-year-old banyan tree soars to 60 feet and covers an entire city block. It is badly charred and its future is uncertain, but today it stands as one surviving symbol of hope amidst all the sadness and ruin.
"Everything is gone," one survivor said. But the tree is still standing.
He went on to say:
I realized as I prayed for Lahaina that this is just how I felt on that May day when my "everything" was gone – my Karen, the love of my life since I was 19 years old. The only person on earth who had done my whole adult life with me. Gone. Suddenly gone.
But one thing was still standing – the Tree that you often see on necklaces and on church steeples. The cross where Jesus died a death that has changed millions of lives ever since. That cross became an anchor on that darkest day of my life.
Ron recounted:
I did not stand alone as I stood by Karen's fresh grave. My Jesus was there.
Lahaina's banyan tree has an uncertain future. God's "safely home" Tree is there forever. Indestructible.
That Tree says I am forever loved. Forever forgiven. Forever safe. Never alone.
No fire can take that away.
There is hope in the fire. There is hope in the rubble. It's a powerful message that no doubt is being communicated by those who are ministering in the name of the Lord. And, in our own times of loss and suffering, we can continue to stand strong in the hope of Christ. The Bible poses that question from Psalm 121: "From whence comes my help?" We can ask ourselves on whom we depend when tough times come.
Tough times have come to Maui, but the Church is standing with those in need - being the hands and feet of Jesus, being used of the Lord to supply resources and standing together with those who are hurting. The Church in community is a powerful and relieving force when there is hurt and pain. In our times of loss, we can turn to the One who has found us, who is mindful of our needs and loves us through our darkest moments.
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