It is said: if we don’t learn from history then history has no value. For us to learn from history, we must find a way to apply the lessons of yesterday (history) to the here and now.
As I am in the fourth quadrant of life, I easily fall into a habit of reliving yesterday. Both the wholesome, and some not so wholesome, scenarios. I have an intense interest in people. It is only people that are everlasting. They are the only portion of God’s creation that has a never-dying soul. No matter how unpleasant or disagreeable an individual is, as long as this individual has a breath of life, a simple surrender to God gives them the benefit of living eternally with Him, in Heaven. Forever.
The devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria Feb 07-2023 has claimed tens of thousands of lives. No doubt the terror of those trapped in the rubble cannot be described. Many, no doubt, never woke up. Others, however, will have been aware and had a choice. They could condemn God for allowing such a dilemma, or they could surrender their will to a God who knows best.
Those of us who are well and alive make these choices each day. All people; yes, friends, all people, reach the pivotal “earthquakes” of their lives. The news is full of stories of the demise of young healthy people. Not healthy in mind, but healthy in body. Situations where, no doubt, the body could have gone on for years. But someone, because of the “earthquake” in their life, takes the pills, or uses the gun, and decisively ends their life. Sometimes the anger and desperation in an individual ends not only their own life, but takes others with it.
Every person has their own DNA. We have the for-real DNA, the physiological and psychological makeup of our being. Then, we also have the part in us where we make individual choices.
When we are born, we don’t have a checklist whether we will be short or tall, fair-haired or dark, athletic or not. We can’t even choose how many fingers our hands will have. We don’t choose our ancestry, race or colour, our family, nor the circumstances of our upbringing. We do all, however, have one common denominator. We are all born as “God’s Baby”. Every soul that is birthed into this world is a “God’s Baby”. A God who understands; an omnipotent God.
So, as we become aware of the “unfairs” in our life, we want to scream indignation. Why, why, why? How come we were so happy…and one split second later, maybe a thirty-minute rumble and shake, and the earthquake of life changes circumstances forever. Why?
Only a short drive from our house, we find the “Burmis” tree. If you google the Burmis tree, you will see the gnarled spindly specimen of survival. This tree will probably join history soon. There are no leaves left. It stands beside the well-traveled Highway 3. People from around the world have stopped to have their picture taken beside the tree, believed to be the longest living tree in the province of Alberta. It is said to be the most-photographed tree in all of Canada. Observing it, it has no economic value as timber. It could be considered a useless remnant of history. If this tree were humanized, if it could rationalize, and if it could have chosen its own destiny, perhaps three hundred years ago it too would have despaired and “taken its own life”. It still stands alone. It still endures 100 mph chinook winds, blazing sun, and bitter winters. It has inspired thousands. Painters and photographers, song writers and poets have eulogized this tree.
Friends, this is a picture of our life. Our life is one of ups and downs, highs and lows, periods of purpose. Periods of fame. Sometimes mainly pain. But we all have a purpose.
Did you know the Bible is chock full of characters of colour? Yes, skin colours, but also of the colour of character. This brings me to my friend, Peter. He is my friend because when I read about his history, I can relate. He faced life in a candid, spur-of-the-moment way. He cried in shame and bitterness, when only a short while earlier he had boasted to Jesus. To Jesus, who himself was facing the hardest part of his earthly life. Peter had declared that he would never forsake or leave his friend, Jesus. Before the end of the very day that he had declared his loyalty, Peter cursed and swore that he had never known this man Jesus. Then, when the night approached and Peter came to his senses, ‘He wept bitterly.”
No amount of weeping erased history. Peter denied Jesus…but, even more real, he was untrue to himself. Friends, sometimes I too am untrue to myself. Sometimes you as well, are untrue to yourself. We have written our history. Nothing will erase this history, until we come to Jesus. The blood of Jesus who died on the cross erases history. God himself says that He removes it. Not covers it, but removes it.
So why are Peter’s shortfalls then recorded in the Bible, “the most read book of all time,” in such blatant clear description? Because we need this history. Millions of people have read about the audacity of Peter, about the impulsive history of Peter. This is the man who Jesus himself refers to as an anchor. As one of the anchor men of the foundations of the evangelical era. Why? Because Peter, at the cross, was one of the first examples of repentance, and of forgiveness. An example of someone who didn’t allow “the earthquake” to destroy his will. But rather, he returned to the road of servitude to God, and to God’s own son Jesus.
