INTROSPECTION -- THE DAY AFTER

· The day after my mother died, her absence was deeply felt; I missed her, but I knew that I would see her again in a better place. I understood and shared her faith.

· The day after Gander, I wept for the loss of my best friend and the memories of 248 professional soldiers killed needlessly and mysteriously in a plane crash. I struggled before God with their erasure. I pondered why I was not on that plane.

· The day after my son’s brain-stem tumor was discovered, a doctor’s foreboding prognosis echoed through my numb mind. I breathed the air of helplessness, and choked over dead dreams.

· The day after September 11, I could not return to Oregon from Georgia. There were no commercial flights in our land—an unprecedented grounding. I wondered if vulnerability and the pain of so many murdered would bring our land back to the God it ignored. The pain of loss was again awakened.

Meditation

Romans 8:35—Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Every person will experience “the day after.” There is no place on earth immune to trouble. This day is a time for introspection. If we choose not to examine what we don’t understand, or fail to assess what we have felt and experienced, then we are hardly better than robots. Introspection is not afraid to challenge the obvious or embrace the illusive. If done honestly, it leads us to a position of insufficiency and honors the value of questions.

Disasters swirl our emotions and may often leave us bewildered. On the day after, tragic memories rock our views toward God. The proliferation of suffering eats at the notion there might be a caring Creator. But if God is only the creation of an insecure humanity, or exists but is uncaring, then what purpose is there in life? Why settle for a purposeless life and refuse to give a purposeful God a chance just because the sin caused by our rebellion—exists? Would a just and holy Creator condone evil, or would He instead provide the grace to overcome it? Why would He give us the freedom of choice knowing we would repeatedly break His heart unless He truly sought our heartfelt love? Is it possible that pain results in deeper questions?

Peter was a devoted follower of Jesus. His life was so changed by the Messiah that history records he died for his faith on an upside down cross. Peter understood and proclaimed God’s simple and wise plan for saving humanity. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Saul, a Jesus-hater, was so profoundly changed after personally encountering Him that He too became a follower. He wrote “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). He noted that salvation is a forever gift (Rom.6:23). In the face of unbelievable catastrophes and personal suffering, he discovered the credible power of an incredible Savior. Like Peter, he was martyred for his faith.

On the day after can we afford not to ask the most important questions? Dare we ignore our mortality? Do we believe the unique and required plan of God for achieving His grace? When suffering comes how will we cope? We have the opportunity to evaluate our own condition and the gift of life God offers. Right now we have the privilege to decide. The next day after may be too late!

Inspiration

Introspection is right because it is the only way we shall discover that we need God. Introspection without God leads to insanity.—Oswald Chambers in The Servant As His Lord