We're Still Here... Whew!!

Dear God,

Well what do you know… May 21^st came and went and we are still here.

Who’d a thunk it?

I know that Jesus himself said that no one would know the day or time except for you so I wasn’t trippin on May 21^st being the last day. After all, if someone is saying that they know when the last day will come then it is pretty much a guarantee that that day will not be the one.

But as I was headed to The Well at PIHOP that night I started to get real mad. I started thinking about all of the people who believed this guy and wondered what changes they may have made in their lives assuming that they were approaching their last days on earth. Then I started to think about this silly notion that even if it didn’t end up being the day then at least they “saved” a bunch of souls as a result of it.

When Jesus was at sea with his disciples and the sea got rocky he asked them why there were so afraid. Why was their faith so small that they were paralyzed with fear? Then with his faith he calmed the storm. How can someone get “saved” when they make that decision in the midst of a storm of fear like this May 21^st situation was?

Can salvation really happen when it is done with a metaphorical gun to your head?

And what now with those folks? I know that if it were me I’d be pretty pissed off. I’d be thinking something like this:

“This dude just scared the living day lights out of me and then the thing that he said I should fear didn’t even happen? What’s up with that? (Censored for your virgin ears)

I can’t even imagine how led astray those folks must feel now. I sure hope that they didn’t sell their homes, quit their jobs, or do any other such brash moves.

But this makes me think. Why even allow this to happen in the first place? This is one of those times that I wish it was like those times in the Old Testament where folks would get straight shot down by You if they weren’t acting right.

But then again if that were the case a whole lot of folks (including me) would have been laid out accordingly.

No one is perfect.

I guess the thing that You have taught me about this is to remember the fundamental lesson about what faith really is. Faith is all about choice. At the end of the day each of us decides what we believe and we ride that out.

Those who decided to follow this man made a decision. I make decisions every single day that affect and determine where my faith is headed. It is the content of these decisions that lead us in the right or wrong directions on each of our individual journeys to or away from the purpose of our lives.

I just really wonder what you thought about this one God. Were you up there mad like I was that this dude played the date game? Did you find it amusing? Did you find ways for it to work out for the best of those whose lives it affected?

I just hope that the folks who were moved by this man took this opportunity to do something good with what they thought would be their last day. Hopefully for them May 21^st will end up being the first day of a new season in their lives; a season where they decide to live life to the fullest, with love, hope and faith.

Holla back with an answer if you like.

Sincerely,

C