Priority

I read wise words from "Swimmin'upstream" in response to my post on "Encountering God in Rough Waters." He/she says, "In America, we have CREATED so many places to search for comfort or help...God seems to be a last resort." That's painfully true. We tend to trust the problem-solving, crisis-alleviating methods that are fully under our control before we trust anything or anybody whose power is centered beyond us. God is, for many, the line of last defense. I remember a high school track coach once telling us, "If all else fails, pray!" At the time, back in the Jurassic era, I was impressed that a public high school teacher/coach made any reference to God at all. Now I realize that he was reflecting the ethos of our culture. "Do everything you can do first, and, if that fails, get God into the game."

In Let to Tell, Immaculee Ilibagiza faced the painful truth that life can and does spin violently out of control. Still, she encountered a God who should be sought first and always, not after all else has failed.

I'm afraid that the sense of control which we might feel is more an illusion than reality. What would it be like to trust God first instead of last? How would that change us not just as individuals, but as churches, or even as a culture?

What do you think? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.