A Coup Attempt and What It Teaches Us About Living
Things in Haiti are as bad right now as they have been since we first went down. If you have not yet liked our Facebook Page, click here and "Like" it to stay as updated as possible with All Things New. We have been sharing some articles about the things going on in Haiti and the political instability that seems to be coming to a head even as I type this. If you want to find out more about what is going on from attempted Coups to multiple Presidents being sworn in while one is still in power, click on these links (Article 1, Article 2, Article 3).
In the midst of the craziness and turmoil in Haiti, we are still trying to raise boys and girls to become men and women of GOD. I cannot imagine what they are thinking when they hear all of the evil and the bad things that are happening in Haiti. What do they think when they have to miss school for an entire week because people are protesting against their government? What must they think about their country's leaders when they hear that they are paying gangs to create upheaval and that nobody in politics is honest or wants what is best for the country? What do they imagine when they hear there was an attempted coup just a few miles down the road from them?
1 Peter 1:24, 25 says, "All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.
It is up to us to teach our children (and ourselves for that matter) that we were not made for this world. You were not made for this world. I was not made for this world.
This is a difficult thing to say and to understand because our tendencies are so "now" focused. It seems like we spend our time teaching our kids to focus on their education, on sports, and on extracurriculars so that "they" can succeed in life. We tell them if "they" work hard then "they" can become whatever they want. I find myself doing this to our kids at home and in Haiti.
How do we expect to teach our kids to focus everything they do and everything they are on becoming successful in this world and then tell them that none of it matters except for Jesus? How can we continually push them to be better, smarter, and more marketable in this world just to pull the rug out from under them from time to time by saying that it is all about Jesus? How can we teach them how great they are and how they are better than everyone they compete against and smarter than everyone else at their school just to tell them to be humble because Jesus was humble?
The change starts with me. How can I show my kids, all 30 of them, that our whole lives and this whole world are all about Jesus? How can I teach them and show them that the only thing of any true value is the Word of GOD because it is the only thing that will not fade away?
First of all, I have to believe that. And not just intellectually. I cannot just tell them that GOD's Word is the only thing that is important and then spend all of my time showing them the exact opposite of that.
In my head, I firmly believe that the Word of GOD is the only thing that will endure and that all that is good comes from that. With my life, however, I can oftentimes show anything but that.
Things in Haiti are bad, things in America are too. The good thing for us as followers of Christ is that none of this lasts forever. People, the good and the bad, are as fleeting as the grass and flowers of the field. They are here one day and gone the next. But the Word of GOD is here forever, and it is this same Word that was preached to us and saved us for eternity. Isn't it funny that when given the chance between the temporary and the forever that we so often choose the temporary?
Let's decide right now to choose the forever.