I can’t believe we are almost through February 2013!
The year that 'shouldn’t' have happened -according to many who believed that the
world would end on 12 December 2012 (or something like that). I can’t help but wonder about those people
who put their trust in some ancient calendar and someone’s calculations…who are
they trusting now? I couldn’t understand the logic behind the whole ‘pack up
and run’ approach. Where were they running too? Was only a portion of the world
going to end? Was it predominantly Americans who believed this? It certainly seemed that way, but that could just be because all of the television programmes were USA based. Was it perhaps just America
that was going to end? Who really knew? It was all very confusing.
Whilst I was last in hospital with a severe chest infection, I had
the good fortune of meeting a very sweet, very young woman who was terribly confused
about life. She had recently been declared dead for almost 15 minutes and yet
had come back to life with no apparent brain damage or any other serious
long-term side effects. She felt that because of her second chance, God (whom she previously had not really
believed in) must have some purpose for her life. At the same time, she was convinced
that all the stories about the Mayan calendar were true and that the end of the
world was only a few short weeks away. She didn’t know where to turn and told
me all of this between fear wrought sobs.
I was so glad to be able to introduce her to the One in whom
I trust! Jesus Christ! In Matthew 24:36 Jesus tells the disciples that no man,
not even the angels or even the Son (himself) will know the day or hour when He
will return for Judgement day – only God. That was all I needed to explain. How
can some ancient race, that have themselves been wiped out, predict what Jesus
Himself does not know.
I explained all this to her and was able to provide her with
her very own Bible. I was also able to explain to her that our primary purpose
in life is to bring glory to God. So we need to live our lives in such a manner
that people see Jesus in all that we do. Our very lives need to reflect the
goodness and love of Christ. This does not mean, I explained, that she has to
become a missionary to North Korea or anything scary, but that God had given
her skills and talents as well as put a desire in her heart for her career path
and in that area, she could live out her purpose in life.
We had discussions late into the night, and as I was
dropping off to sleep I realized why I had been hospitalized for a chest
infection! I had felt that it was a bit of a dramatic decision, but if the doctor had not
taken those steps and had sent me home, well then I could not have done what God
needed me to do at that time.
