Hope Secured

Job 11:18-19 -- "You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid..."

image: "Camp Crame Bombing 1989" pcij.org

Large dark columns of black smoke rose high into the air and the bone-rattling noise of jet engines shook the security bars on the long back deck that overlooked the pool. American fighter planes buzzed our dormitory en-route from Clark Air Base. From the safety of our sheltered home away from home, we looked out over our school in the distant hills and the smokey city of Manila miles below. The hollow pop of gunfire reverberated off the green hills around us and we stood there, dumbfounded as we watched the airport burn. Someone had binoculars, but I can't remember who it was. I only remember looking through the thick lenses out over the chaos of the so called "bloodless coup" of 1989/1990 and watching Camp Crame [pronounced krom-ee] burn as it was bombed by rebel forces. I remember wondering if my family in Davao City was safe. There was no way for us to know. All communication lines had been cut.

It was an odd feeling to be a bystander - a spectator - looking down on a political and volatile war between two factions in the Philippines. I would be lying if I told you I wasn't afraid. My nerves were wound up so tightly that I couldn't stand still - even to watch the jets dog-fight over the sprawling city below us. 

Our dorm parents called us in from the balcony and told us to remain inside until the fighting was over. Safely buried in the side of a plush tropical hillside, we climbed the stairs into the lower level of the dorm and began to play games, watch an American military channel, and pick at puzzles that had long since lost several pieces. 

When the fragile power lines fell and we were left sitting in the semi-dark den, our dorm parent took the opportunity to collect us all into a circle and join hands in prayer. I re-learned then what hope there is in prayer. As we stood there gathered together in the name of Jesus Christ - I was flooded with peace and a gentle calm gave birth to the confidence that God was in control. We were not forgotten as political tempers raged in the maelstrom of explosions and semiautomatic gun fire. Nor were we alone. God knew exactly where we were during the whole ordeal. And He kept us safe.

The battlefield may not always be as clearly defined as it was on that crazy day in the Philippines - perhaps that's why it might seem difficult to come up with a strategy where fighting the enemy is concerned, lately. But I DO know that no matter what happens - what evil things may occur or how lax we become as a society when it comes to our morals - that God hasn't changed a bit. His rules are still the same. His love is still the same.  ... and He still offers HOPE! We can lie down and rest because we have the assurance that God has everything under control. He tells us that in Job. He tells us that in Psalms. He tells us that all though out His Word. 

We don't have to be afraid of whatever tomorrow might hold. Because our awesome and mighty God holds tomorrow for us.

I take great comfort in that.