Written by Jim Fletcher Monday, 20 July 2009 23:40
I climbed into the shuttle van and as we pulled away from the airport, I heard the driver say, “Okay, for those of you on the last stop, it’ll be about an hour and forty five minutes.”
It was midnight.
I was in the middle-of-the-pack on the delivery schedule, and before the night was over, I’d take the weirdest shuttle trip I’d ever had, and my hotel room — reserved with a credit card — would be sold to someone else. Even though I’d called ahead and informed the reservation folks that I’d arrive late, but I would be there.
They told me later that yes, my note had been entered into the system, but hadn’t been printed-out and was therefore overlooked.
Back to the shuttle ride.
I’ve traveled a lot, and as we left the Denver airport, inexplicably located many miles from the city, I resigned myself to the long drive.
Next thing I know, we are being driven through a less-than-desirable neighborhood in a Denver suburb. On every other shuttle I’ve taken, passengers are driven directly to a downtown area, and each rider is taken to the door of a particular hotel.
Yet this time, I looked up and saw that we were parked outside a private residence. The driver, having deposited a woman and her bags on the doorstep, said, “I’m going to wait until she gets in; this is a really bad street.”
I thought, how did I get into this situation? You get emerge from a well-lit, international airport, on your way to a high-priced hotel in a sparkling city, and the next thing you know, you’re sitting in front of a crack-house. At 12:30 a.m.
My point with this little story? Just this: I feel this is what our world has become. My shuttle ride is a metaphor for the world in which we find ourselves living in 2009. It can be a place of foreboding and darkness. Consider:
Mort Zuckerman just wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal in which he opined that the economy is way worse than we’re being told.
Actress Sandra Bullock laughed and joked through an interview about her nude scenes in her latest film.
In our nation’s capitol, another liberal judge is about to be voted onto the Supreme Court.
I could go on, but why overkill depressing news?
Okay, I can’t help myself. Now, notice how many personal issues are threatening your sanity. Personal problems. Finances. Family problems. Can I get an amen? Aren’t we all in the same boat?
I keep hearing that Christians are being assaulted in myriad ways, weekly, daily, hourly. The challenges seem more acute than they used to. At least that’s the way I see it.
Our world has become a shuttle-ride nightmare.
Which brings us to an interesting moment in both our individual and collective lives:
The Word is eternal.
I’m not on drugs. I’m not bipolar. I’m not hoping things will get better.
I know they will.
For one thing, the Bible is so obviously true and reliable, we should take comfort in the fact that it’s God — the only One — is trustworthy and above all, loving. He has promised to watch over us, and take care of us. This love, which invites us to love back, teaches us that perfect love is forged in fire. The fires of daily trials melt us, shape us, and fashion us into what we are supposed to be.
We all know it’s easy to have big faith in easy times. Even more obvious is the fact that it’s trickier to have said faith when times are hard.
But that is where we are. In John, we read that in the beginning was the Word. This is not esoteric babble. It is practical, tangible, and sustainable.
When you find yourself driving down a dangerous and darkened street of life, you can cry out to God. He will hear you.
For me — as all of you who know me…know — my faith is constantly bolstered by the reality of Israel’s existence. This little land come back from the dead after 2,000 years is astonishing. Its rebirth was predicted by the Word much longer ago than 2,000 years.
And here she is.
This week at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver (this is the largest Christian book show in the world), I met two of my Israeli friends, two publishers. As we walked the aisles choked with titles from Emergent writers, novelists like The Shack’s William Young, and various sugary candy books, I was struck by the fact that God’s word is never eradicated.
My two friends walked beside me, and the fact that they are flesh and blood, men who had traveled across the ocean from Israel…gave me immense comfort. It told me again that my God is all-powerful, and always brings His purposes to pass.
Two Jews, two Israelis, were living proof that the God of the Universe is in total control. They were a spark of heavenly fire.
These two witnesses.
I smiled, reflecting on the fact that my trip through this dark and threatening world will one day emerge into an eternal sunshine.
Originally published in One News Now, Prophecy Matters. July 2009
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written by Jason Kisic, July 21, 2009
