Do It God's Way

It seems like every hurricane season we see the pictures and hear the stories about the evacuation causing traffic jams. Like the ones Hurricane Rita did on I 45 and US 69 going north from the Houston area. All that coverage had many people wondering if evacuation was such a good idea. Shopuld they obey the evacuation orders?

Evacuation even under ideal terms, which it never is, is difficult and heart wrenching. I got a bit of insight during some Instant Message exchanges with my sister-in-law as she dealt with an evacuation order. What do you take, what do you leave behind? Will you have anything to come back to? The internal debates can go on and on causing doubts and hesitation.

She did evacuate from an area that hurricane Rita hit very hard the night after she finally left. In the end, she did it like so many others because it was the right thing to do. Considering the incredible damage inflicted on southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, having only nine deaths is incredible. For example, some villages on the coast are completely gone, nothing but foundations and pilings left. How come no one was hurt or killed? The answer is, they were not there, they evacuated.

Unfortunately, a few weeks earlier many decided that instead of evacuating they would stay and do it their way. Also, some local officials did not take evacuation seriously enough. The unfortunate result was a death toll from Katrina that was well over 1,000.

Before we start berating the folks who did not heed the evacuation orders, we need to look at ourselves. Every Christian has instructions, orders if you will, from God. They are not even that hard to remember Jesus summarized them this way. "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these." {Mark 12:29-31} Honestly, how do we do on following through with those commands?

That love for God can seem hard to figure out, but here again Jesus simplified it for us. He gave the disciples an easy test on how they loved God, He said: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me." and "You are My friends if you do what I command you." {John 14:23-24 and 15:14}

God places a lot of emphasis on our obeying Him. I think this is partly because He gives us these instructions for our own good and out of love for us. Kind of like the hurricane evacuation, orders were not given for the officials benefit but for the benefit of the people.

Notice in John 14:24 Jesus talked about people who disobey. Warnings like that give me shudders up and down my spine. This is even more true after some statements and the follow-up action by some people who call themselves committed Christians. The first said to me very seriously "I know that is what the Bible says to do, but we will do it this other way instead." Then the group he was part of went on and did it their way. Another man said to a church leader I know, "I know what we are doing is wrong, but I will keep on doing it because ..." This is planned, thought out disobedience not the "oops!" kind of disobedience. James' blunt comment on this is. "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin." {James 4:17}

This reminds us that Christians need to go beyond commitment to surrender. Surrender means that God is in charge of our whole being. That means we will love and obey Him with everything in us and in every situation. It is always His way. In the short view that can seem quite painful, just like evacuating is painful. But, in the longview it leads into blessing and I mean much more than simply eternity in Heaven instead of Hell.

Look at your life from God's point of view, repent of areas that need correction, and then surrender yourself to the path of blessing - living God's way.

Written by Rev. Daniel B. Baker September 2005



Articles by Rev. Daniel B. Baker :: Webmaster: Joseph I. Baker