CERTAINTY

Put a UN in front of the word and you are tempted to get nervous as you sit in Haiti and don’t know how or when you will get home. That is the position 26 of us are in. We came to Haiti on a Medical trip. We have seen hundreds of people with all kinds of needs--a woman with two children who lost their home, a person whose family is still buried in the rubble of a destroyed house, hungry children, people sleeping outside because they are afraid to go inside, and I must admit as I laid in a Haitian bed and looked up at a concrete ceiling, I had my moments. Truth is, life is filled with uncertainties. I am learning not to focus on the uncertainties but on the certainties, and there are some that you can hang your hat on. It is a good thing to acknowledge there are some things over which we have no control. We had planned this trip for months and then the earthquake came and it looked as if it would be impossible to make the trip. I remember the frustration of the uncertainty. Finally I waved a white flag to our Lord and surrendered to His will. I said to Him, “If we get there we will know it is because you want us there,” and then a door opened and United Airlines offered to fly us to Haiti without charge, but they could not come back for us. So the big word flashed again, “Uncertainty.” In the midst of all this there was a snow storm and just getting to the airport was a challenge. I remember saying to the Lord, “I am signing a blank piece of paper and you will have to fill it in your way.” We don’t like feeling out of control, but it is when we are out of control that we learn about His faithfulness. He is never out of control. He has no obligation to help us with our plans unless they are His plans. Helplessness is opportunity for us to learn of His faithfulness. Living in the desert of life we learn how faithful He is to all who call on Him.
So today I sit in the warm sun of Haiti with the uncertainty of how I will get home, but I know the God who got me here will also get me home. I don’t have to know how, I just trust the one who has the power to get water from a rock. When His plan becomes our plan we don’t have to worry. He will work his plan in His own way and in His timing. Faith must march down from the pulpit and work for us in life’s uncertain moments. What we preach must be lived on the street.
Two days before we left Nashville with a one way ticket, Mary and I were reading our Bible at bedtime. Our pastor had asked us to read through the book of Psalms, we were at Psalm 121 and when we read the last verse we knew it was for us and our trip to Haiti. It was as though God marked it with a yellow marker. Ps 121:8 “The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.”
Today we are still in the “going out” phase, but I know God is in charge of the “coming in” part. I am looking forward to seeing my family in Nashville and my heart smiles when I think of the greeting I will get from Tramp. The certainties of trusting in God are far greater than the uncertainties of this troubled world. JFS
PS: We are all home, my group came home on a US Air Force C17, what a ride! Thanks for all your prayers. jfs