The big thing in the
news this week has been the eruption of Fuego, the volcano in Guatemala. It occurred on Sunday morning and as I have reflected
on the events surrounding the eruption I am in wonder of how God’s hand works.
Lynette and I both
have been to Guatemala several times. Six
months ago we were making plans to return with a mission team from our
church. The departure date was to be
June 2nd. The difficulty confronting
us was twofold: first our granddaughter’s birthday is June 1st; and
second, she was performing in a ballet recital on June 2nd. The solution was simple. Since the recital
was to be in the afternoon we would go for her birthday, spend the night,
attend the recital then travel home that evening. We would then leave for Guatemala on June 3rd
arriving a day later than the rest of the team. The only small difficulty was the booking of
our flights separate of the rest of the team.
The booking of
airline tickets can be so crazy. You look one day the price is up, next day
they’re down, next day the flight no longer exists. We went around and around trying to decide
which flights to book. However, before that
decision was made my diagnosis came and things really became topsy-turvy. The hope was that with four months to go
before the trip that it may be possible to get treatment to the point where we
could still go. That was just not to be.
Now that this week is past I am able to understand why God would not allow us to
travel on June 3rd for we would have been in route to Guatemala when Fuego blew. I have not yet decided if His blocking our travel is a reason to give thanks for
cancer. Could He not have found another way?
The first rule of any
mission trip is “Plan, plan, plan... then be prepared for your plans to change.” I doubt the experience of
a volcano eruption was on the bucket list of any of the team members and I am
sure no one expected a change of plans like this. Having heard from the team and
they are all safe and doing well, accomplishing some of what was planned and a lot they never anticipated.
We’ve been to Guatemala enough times that we have close friends there. I really
had the locals as well as the team on my mind and in my prayers.
The volcanoes in
Guatemala are much like earth quakes in California; you know they’re possible;
you just don’t dwell on it. Just like an
occasional small tremor of the earth in California the volcanoes will sometimes give a little belch
of smoke. In fact Fuego was known for
just such belches. The two photos below I
took of Fuego from about 20 miles away. They were shot less than 30 seconds
apart. The locals there just said, “Oh,
it does that all the time!”
 |
| Fuego January 2, 2017 |
Will Rogers once
said, "Quitting to smoke is easy, I've done it thousands of
times!" That's just like the "little sins" in our
lives. We keep telling ourselves that our sins are small,
inconsequential, and will not amount to much. The lesson of
actions having consequences can be a very, very difficult one; but, the Lord still offers His mercy.
Joel
2:12,13
12
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to Me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping, and mourning;
12
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast
love;
and He relents over disaster.
(ESV)
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