Certain Moments in Life

I was in Sioux City recently and came across the Flight 232 memorial along the downtown riverfront. It commemorates the response of the community after the 1989 crash of United Airlines Flight 232 into an Iowa cornfield near the Sioux City airport. The memorial includes several stones with quotes on plaques leading to a statue of a rescue worker carrying a child. The words on one of the stones stood out to me, “There are certain moments in life you simply have to enter.”

This is one of those moments for me and my wife. As I write this, Linda and I are preparing to travel to West Africa to visit our daughter, Jessica. She is in Ghana serving a two year assignment with the Peace Corps. We have had shots for yellow fever, hepatitis A, and typhoid. We are taking medications to prevent malaria. We have been watching with great interest the developments in Paris and Mali.

Sometimes it may seem like the world is a dangerous place. The threats of terrorists and malaria have become more personal for us. Our primary motivation for going is not some noble mission but simply our love and admiration for our daughter. She is an inspiration to us. As a Peace Corps volunteer she is truly trying to make a positive difference in this world.

There are certain moments in life that all of us simply have to enter. They are not easy, and we may wish that there was a way to hide from them. But there is hope.

Later this month Christians will be celebration the birth of Jesus. Christmas reminds us of a certain moment when God entered into our reality. Throughout his life, Jesus had to enter certain moments to confront hatred, sickness, and evil. Even though those moments were dangerous and he may have wanted to run and hide, he prayed to God, “Not my will, but yours be done.”

The hope that Jesus gives us is that we can trust in God to be with us when we have to enter those certain moments. We too can confront hatred, illnesses and evil in our world and even in our own lives. At some point, all of us will have to enter the moments of our own physical deaths. I pray that you will be able to hear the words of Jesus when he said: “do not be afraid” and “I am with you, even to the end of time.” 

Followers of Jesus have a mission to transform the world with the love of God. The Bible tells us to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). There will be certain moments in your life that you simply have to enter. I pray that in Jesus you will find courage to simply enter those moments trusting that God will be with you. You will be amazed at what God will be able to do through us together.