Tag: tragedy

Remembered Sin or Resurrected Faith (Life After Death Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Death is the last villain–the final boss–in the story of our lives. Death is guaranteed for all of us, but second life is not. Resurrection is as rare as unicorns, so whenever God rescues someone from the dead, He is clearly trying to send us a message.

Remembered Sin

During the middle of a famine, Elijah—the greatest prophet of the Old Testament—was sent to live with a widow. Her son died soon after he arrived. She railed against Elijah, “‘O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son’” (1 Kings 17:18 NLT)?

God has baked into our bones the knowledge of our own sinfulness. And when tragedy strikes, we often believe that we’re receiving our just deserts. Maybe your parents divorced and you think that if you had only been a better daughter, they might have stayed together. Maybe you have a friend who committed suicide and you wonder if you would have been able to save them if only you had cared enough to call. Maybe you’re sifting through the ruins of your own troubled life and you can’t stop seeing all the little bombs you set—the TNT of immaturity and the C-4 of pride.

This widow knew the darkness of her own heart and believed her day of reckoning had come.

Resurrected Faith

But God had a better word for her. Elijah whisked off the corpse and cried out to the LORD. The prayer of God’s righteous saints has great power while its working (James 5:16): to heal, to restore, and yes, even to raise the dead. Elijah cried out to God, and God reached down to him and restored the life of the boy he was praying over (1 Kings 17:19-22).

When Elijah returned the revived son to his mother, he said, ‘Look, your son is alive!’ Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth’” (1 Kings 17:24). The point of the death of the widow’s son was not to emphasize her sinfulness but to strengthen her faith.

Forgotten Miracle

Yet the widow’s son had been on the verge of death once before. A few Bible verses earlier, this same widow had been preparing the last supper for her family. Using the last of the flour in her house, they were going to eat and die (1 Kings 17:12).
But then Elijah showed up on her doorstep and gave her a word from God: “‘“There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crows grow again”’” (1 Kings 17:14 NLT)!

They were living off this very miracle when the widow’s son fell ill. God’s word had already proven true while the widow’s son was still alive, yet it took his death for her to be fully convinced.

Conclusion

We will be tempted to forget God’s faithfulness from yesterday if tragedy strikes close to home tomorrow. But don’t let the miraculous grow mundane in your life. Don’t let fear override faith. Remember that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and every word He speaks is true.

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!”

(Psalm 103:1-5 NLT)

An Exiled World (Tragedies of Hope Pt. 3)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For the first article on “Missing the Presence”, click here. For the second article on “A Dying Baby, a Dead Baby, and a Living Hope”, click here.

The fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people was unequivocally the greatest tragedy recorded in the Old Testament. It’s recorded in 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36, Jeremiah 39, and Jeremiah 52. The Bible uses the literary tool of repetition for the purpose of emphasis, like a flashing neon sign screaming, “THIS IS IMPORTANT!” Of the events recounted in the Bible in detail, none is repeated more times than the fall of Jerusalem. (The only other event recounted four times in the Bible is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.)

The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple of God within it was the LORD’s final judgment on the Israelite people for generations of rebellion. They disregarded thousands of prophetic warnings, hundreds of miraculous wonders, and several close calls. Finally, the LORD called the mighty Babylonian empire against them. They captured the Israelites’ capital city in little over a month’s time, and scattered them abroad.

COVID-19 has caused a comparable, metaphysical uprooting for billions around the world. Weekdays among colleagues and weekends with friends have morphed into months at home alone. This pandemic has collectively exiled us all.

Know God is Still in Control

In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon said, “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14a NIV). It can be easy to accept a simplistic worldview that says God causes all good things, and the Devil causes all bad things. But we must wrestle with the fact that God is sovereign over both good and evil.

God’s sovereignty over evil is far more than an exoteric concept debated by stuffy theologians. It means that God is not reacting to a horrible pandemic that ruined His majestic plan. It means this pandemic was part of His plan all along. He has a meaningful purpose for this pandemic just as He had for the Israelite’s extradition from their homeland.

Know God’s Refuge Goes with You

God told the exiles through the prophet Ezekiel, “‘Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile'” (Ezekiel 11:16 NLT). This pandemic has sent us adrift from the bay of normality. We are now being tossed about in the wild sea of the unknown, but we don’t have to tread water forever. Just as God “sanctuaried-in-place” with the exiles when their sanctuary in Jerusalem was destroyed, He offers Himself to us as our God-sized lifeboat. He will keep us afloat until we reach the shore.

Know This Will Last a While

The LORD prophesied that the Israelites would not be exiled for one month or two but for seventy long years. Similarly, these past several months have demonstrated that COVID-19 will not vanish overnight. We too are in for the long haul.

The LORD told the exiled Israelites to “‘build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce…increase in number there; do not decrease'” (Jeremiah 29:5-6 NIV). We are not to merely white-knuckle our way through this pandemic, hanging on for dear life. We also must learn how to thrive in our new normal, expanding our connections, churches, and businesses.

Conclusion

The LORD left the exiles with this message of hope: “‘You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope'” (Jeremiah 29:10-11 NLT). This promise was always intended for outcasts, those in a time and place like ours. God has a good plan for this pandemic, will sustain us through this season, and will bring us home from exile. In the meantime, let us build, grow, and sow.

“Now there was a famine in the land…The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you’…Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.”

(Genesis 26:1-3a, 12 NIV)

Outrage

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I first witnessed the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in a Twitter post with the hashtag #imatotalpieceofshi—. This encounter revealed something deeply troubling in the American psyche, but I shoved the notion away. Like Muhammad Ali circling Joe Frazier in the ring, I knew this issue would rock me to my core if I allowed it get too close. But it can wait no longer. This tragedy demands a response.

Background on Ahmaud Arbery

Ahmaud Arbery was pursued and gunned down by two armed white men while he was out jogging. That murder occurred back in February. His killers walked free until national outcry forced the local authorities to respond three months later.

Outrage Definition

Outrage is the matching of an intense feeling of violent anger with an uncontrollable need to express it. Many have exploded at the racist extremism of these two gunmen. But far fewer have voiced indignation over the indifferent community that allowed them to go unpunished for so long.

The Outrage of the Cross

Another man was treated with contempt belying His worth when He walked this earth: Jesus Christ. The Son of God was reviled like a criminal (Matthew 27:38-44), abused like an animal (Isaiah 53:3-5), and buried like a mere mortal (Isaiah 53:9). During this bleak moment, a couple of His closest friends betrayed Him (Matthew 26:48-50) and denied Him (Mark 14:70-72). But the rest simply looked on as the grossest injustice in history was committed before their very eyes (Luke 23:44-49). The story of Jesus Christ demonstrates that apathy is not the exception but the natural state of our hearts.

From Outrage to Healing

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a hijacking of or a mere addendum to the issue of racial reconciliation. It sits at its very core. The only way an apathetic people can experience conviction and an outraged community attain forgiveness is through a transfusion of the healing blood of Jesus.

Ephesians 2:16 says, “Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” The author was referring to first century Jews and Greeks, but how much more in need of reconciliation are twenty-first century blacks and whites?

Conclusion

Jesus Christ Himself is our peace. He transforms foreigners into neighbors and our foes into friends. So close is the unity of the faith that Jesus calls us His brothers and sisters (Matthew 12:49)! But even as Christians, we still see color.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of “little black children holding hands with little white children” was not only deeply poetic but also richly biblical. The book of Revelation speaks of a day when a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue will praise God together (Revelation 7:9). Diversity will no longer be a moat of division but a fount of inspiration, manifesting the multifaceted creativity of our Maker. That dream is brought ever closer when we extend our arms to our enemies and love them as our family.

“‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.'”

(Matthew 5:43-44 ESV)