“Heart to God, hand to man.”  (Marching Orders of the Salvation Army)

We are in the midst of helping the Salvation Army and another local ministry in the Greater New Bedford area raise funds for their operations.  To help us focus on why we would care to do so, may I share this article I wrote with you that appeared in The Salvation Army’s National Publication, The War Cry, in August of 2013…….

For almost two weeks I had the privilege of being in New York with the Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster team to help with the relief effort caused by Hurricane Sandy. Someone asked, what was the highlight of the trip?  May the answer I shared bless you the only way that matters–God’s way.

When bad things happen to people in such a magnified and horrendous proportion, one might also ask, “Why would God allow such a thing?”  Major Gilbert Parkhurst, of our local Salvation Army, had previously answered the same question people asked him when he was deployed to ground zero in New York.  His answer to that question, honest then and true for me now, is this: “I’m not sure, but God sent me to help.”

We all live by faith in one way or another.  Who or what we have faith in determines the lasting strength of our belief.  Some choose to rely on money, family, political power, luck, or whatever else as their source.  However, when we step into a scene of devastation such as that experienced on Long Beach, New York, all those false sources of reliance become fully exposed.  The destruction was far reaching and thoughts and emotions spun from A to Z.  There was no such thing as recognizable patterns or predictions, other than everything fell apart and needed to be restored.

Family and friends, the place of faith comes from within our inner core; beyond sensory experience and emotional/intellectual function.  If we live by faith in the One who loved us so much that He chose to die for each of us on the Cross to redeem us as proof, then we have an eternal hope, energy, and excellence to persevere to renewal—no matter what!  To know that the issues of life stem from the attitude of our heart not only applies to general tragic incidents but in our personal disastrous struggles as well.

None of us have all the answers; only God holds that distinction.  Let’s walk today, not in our own perfection, but in the help He provides when we sacrifice our own agenda to assist others in excellence and without discrimination.  I’m so grateful that God said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  That’s not just a high light.  That’s His highest light!

 Prov 3:5-6; Phil 4:13; Mark 12:30-31