Wednesday, February 3, 2016
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If I was back in elementary school, and they asked me to write a composition on "My Summer," I'd have one word on the paper. Amazing! Because I spent it on Indian reservations with a team of 60 Native American young people who stood on reservation basketball courts, pouring out their Hope Story of how Jesus has rescued them. I had a front row seat on God's awesomeness.
And then there was the moose.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Message in the Moose - for the Things We Run Into."
Our son, who directs all our organization's Native work, was driving his rented RV back to our lodging place after a team outreach. When suddenly, there was the moose crashing head first into the windshield on the driver's side, shattering it completely propelling broken glass way back in the RV.
We raced to the scene, not knowing what to expect. There was our daughter-in-law, standing in front of that disabled RV repeating over and over again, "God is so good! God is so good!" Yes, He is. Even the police were amazed that there was no significant injury. Locals told me grimly, "Things like this don't usually end well." We consider it a miracle. Miracle #1, that is.
Obviously, a lot of repairs were needed, including re-alignment which meant putting the RV up on a rack. And that's when they found it. Loose parts underneath that were not caused by the accident and that almost surely meant disaster down the road. The mechanic explained the real possibility. He said, "Your RV could suddenly pitch forward and roll end-over-end" obviously with potentially deadly consequences.
When my son called to tell me about this disturbing discovery, he began with four words that, at first, seemed a little curious, "God sent a moose." Well, you know what? Yes, He did. To reveal what otherwise might never have been known until it was too late. "God is so good! God is so good!"
The Moose Mess has revealed more than problems with an RV. It sheds a whole new light on many things that I run into, that you run into, all humans run into: medical challenges, painful losses, family conflict, major disappointment, a financial hit, maybe it's a child in trouble, a broken relationship. How about a broken heart? When we hit it, everything stops, and it usually hits suddenly.
But, just as that night of the moose, God is always doing something much bigger than the thing we can see. Don't forget that. God's always doing something much bigger than what we can see. We saw the moose. But the moose was just part of the story. The real story was God was using the moose to prevent a much larger tragedy and showing us how great His power is and His love for us.
There are some very familiar words in the Biblical affirmation that's our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Romans 8:28. It takes on new significance after the night of the moose. "All things work together for good..." "All things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose." He didn't say all things are good. But He said, "All things work together for good."
The Cross of Jesus wasn't good. It was awful. But what looked at that time like the greatest tragedy in human history turned out to bring about the greatest good of all; the payment for our sin that makes possible life with God forever.
So when a "moose" suddenly crashes into my life, seemingly wrecking things, I need to remember the God of the "something bigger" who's weaving a beautiful tapestry that sometimes includes some very dark threads. And He's using today's mess to accomplish tomorrow's miracle.
If I can remember that, maybe I, too, will be able to say, "God sent a moose."