I ran across an Associated Press story on The Drudge Report that set me thinking. It was entitled: "Everything Seemingly Spinning Out of Control" by Alan Fram and Eileen Putnam (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080621/ap_on_re_us/out_of_control). I ignored the headline the first couple times I saw it, and finally decided to check it out. I really don't look for stories of "doom and gloom" and "the world is coming to an end". Aside from a couple of refreshing references to Horatio Alger,Jr. the story pretty much reaches the typical conclusions - we are in a malaise and our future is, at best, uncertain.
With that story as a launching pad, my mind sprang to a Biblical story as I drove in to work this morning. In 2 Kings 6 the Syrians had built a siege against a portion of Israel and the king of Israel was blaming Elisha - God's man.
The purpose of a siege is to cut of supplies from entering the city. Eventually the folks inside give up or die of starvation. So things got pretty desperate. You think $4 per gallon gas prices are bad... that's nothing! These folks were spending all their money for anything that even resembled food - "donkey-heads", bird droppings and the like. At one point, many resorted to cannibalism. I'll stop there - you can read the details for yourself - the Bible doesn't pull any punches.
Now, for a moment put yourself in that situation. We are pretty upset when our grocery bill escalates a little; this was true destitution.
Our concerns today about "everything spinning out of control" are nothing compared to the plight of these people.
What if, in the midst of all that filth and starvation, someone with authority and good sense stood up and said... "this will all be over tomorrow - food in abundance and prices will return to normal".
Yeah, right.
Well that's just what happened. Elisha, the man of God mentioned earlier, stood up and said something just like that. (see 2 Kings 7).
An official of the king mouthed off (that's Southern for "replied")- "If the windows of heaven opened up it wouldn't be enough to get us out of this mess!"
Now that sounds not unlike the arguments spouted today by those against exploring for more oil here in the U.S. and near our shores. You know they mockingly say (read with mocking voice) "well even if we found oil - and we don't know that we will - it would be years before it would affect our fuel prices!!"
One thing is for sure... if we don't search for it, we will not find it.
Okay back to my story.
It happened just like the man of God said it would. You should read the story for yourself but it involved four completely hopeless outcasts who decided to get up and do something - even if they failed, they would go down trying.
These four diseased derelicts - despondent and destitute - stood up on trembling knees and determined to give themselves up to the enemy; prisoners of war get bread and water don't they? And even if they didn't get fed, perhaps they could infect a few of them on their way to the gallows.
It was those four disenfranchised ones that discovered that God had scared off the enemy and those Syrians had left all their stuff behind.
Now if we are not careful, we may get the idea that the only message of this little comparative story is that we should get up and do something.
Hardly.
The point is that Someone had it all under control. He chose when to end the desperation and those four outsiders took action in His time.
Maybe someone should be asking, what God is thinking about all this "spinning out of control".
Is it really out of control or does He still hold it all in His hands?
Maybe I should be asking what role He wants me to take?
A crazy man on the inside saying crazy things, standing up against the majority; or a crazy man on the outside doing crazy things and having little to lose -risking it all to take action.
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