There is No One like our God. September, 2011

The last week has made one thing crystal clear to me—God is in control, and I am not. Plus, there is no one like our God.

Even if the students will not admit it, there is something exciting about the first day of school. For the large public high school, where my son is a junior, this year’s first day proved to be just a little too exciting. About an hour after school started, the students were made aware of an emergency on campus, and soon after, evacuated to the football field, where they stayed for several hours. ‘See, notes were found in the barracks of a troubled 22- year-old Navy corpsman, at nearby Camp Pendleton—said he had planted bombs at strategic places on the high school campus. Hmmm . . .

How to react? I called Dylan’s cell-phone, and felt better that I got to talk to him; then, I prayed for protection for the campus and my son, cancelled a meeting, followed the story carefully through the media, and trusted God. Truly. Parents were asked not to go to the school, because it would just create chaos on a campus of 3200 students. What happened? No bombs, students released unharmed . . . for us, end of story. Student Facebook postings said ‘School was the bomb today’. Lesson: God is in control, and what’s more, he can be trusted. Oh yeah, and I am not in control.

The next day, school had just dismissed, and the stoplights all seemed to be flashing red—no normal green, yellow, red cycle—just red. Massive power outage in Southern California—initially reported that it could take a couple days to restore power. Hmmm….just a few days before 9-11, was it a planned sabotage? (‘notice I didn’t say terrorist plot?) No power translatedà no stores, restaurants, gas stations; no home-phone service, and for most, no cell phone coverage… candles or flashlights only, once darkness descended. I went to bed that night with my transistor radio next to me, doors and windows locked, and feeling just a little uneasy. ‘Please God, protect us all,’ I breathed.

What happened? Power was restored to our home about Midnight. Result: lost some refrigerated food, and there was no school the next day. Lesson: God is in control…I am not. I can trust him, even when unsure what is going on, who is causing it, or how long it will last…AND, I can ask for his grace and mercy in the outcome.

The next day was opening day of the Fall soccer season for both of my boys—I love watching them play. (By the way, it just occurred to me that maybe God feels similarly when he watches me from the sideline. . . hmmm.) Both boys came home with victories, and everything was great until the call came that Dylan had been in a car accident. (16 year old, remember?) He was driving--not his fault, the car was totaled, but thankfully, he walked away uninjured. Yesterday I took him to the tow-yard to retrieve his belongings from the car. The damage proved that he had been hit head-on—the offending car’s emblem pressed into Dylan’s front bumper. The lesson? God is in control, I am not----even when I am unaware that something is happening that is out of my control—like in this case, my son could have been killed, and I didn’t realize it until I saw both cars, side by side, at the tow/wrecking yard. ‘Think you should pray for protection for your loved ones? Oh yes.

And then, Sunday night, 9-11--the next day in a row of days that had each been so eventful--was our Fall F.C.A. kickoff beach bonfire. (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) I had dreamed, planned, prepared, prayed, and set everything up—including a great speaker. When 7.30 came around, it was ‘show time’---would anybody come? After doing my part, the part I could control, I had to leave the rest up to God, and trust that he would ‘show up’ at this event designed to honor him by pointing student athletes to him.

What happened? Well, God did show up! Over the bluff, the young people came, usually in twos or threes, and well, it was definitely God-honoring. With a backdrop of the Pacific Ocean crashing within feet of the firepit, the athletes competed in a 3-legged race, ate pizza, talked and laughed, but most importantly, they connected with God through an inspiring message by former-NFL player, Pat Harlow; in a huge circle, they held hands for a moment of silence marking the great loss our country faced 10 years ago on 9-11; a couple brave souls were willing to pray for the U.S., and for their school. Then, we listened to Chris Tomlin croon, ‘You’re the God of this city, you’re the King of these people, you’re the Lord of this nation, you are…You’re the light in this darkness, you’re the Hope to the hopeless, you’re the Peace to the restless, you are…Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are yet to be done in this city…there is no one like our God.’

The lesson? It is true—there is no one like our God, and he is in control.

Grace to you,

Christine

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