Wind,Rain,Winding Roads & Sunshine, The By-Ways of Life

What's Going On?

Blue skies, white clouds, birds singing, flying high. Planes grounded. People stranded. Worrying about  how they will get home. Farmers and their families boarded into close sleeping quarters waiting to see what will happen next. ? Is this end of our existence? Will we have to start over? Will she explode or not? If you were asked by any human being outside of the people in Island, who is Eyjafjallajoekull,you probably would  have said, 'who's that?'

Fifteen April, however, changed that and everyone got to know her. In fact she made herself known by distributing an eruption that laid European Airports helpless. People were speechless. Lost for words, totally frustrated  because the world was not running as it was supposed to run.  The university graduates with all of their BAs', MAs', PHDs' and any other kind of degree title did not have any answers. They were no longer in control. Being totally overburdened with the phenomenon that was taking place, all of them whether they were  politicians, scientists, economists, or any other decisionmaker could only behold how one of the motors of the business world ,the airline industry, was wrapped in a hand grip that grounded the major European Airports. People were stranded and for four days no one knew what to do. Chaos to the max! What's going on?

Hardworking men, 1000 feet (330m) below ground returning upward into daylight, a new crew getting  ready to submerge into the  darkness deep under the ground.  Working in a mine is not an easy job. The risks are tremendous regardless of the safety standards that people have put into place.

No one knows what happened.  The changing shift felt air and went back to find the cause. They found injured people and dead bodies. Their reaction, to get out of there as quickly as possible. They did not know what had happened but they knew it was dangerous.  What do you do in a situation like that? How do you explain the unexplainable? What's going on?

It was early morning. Kids were in school. People were arriving at work. Some were on the way.  Others were at home, some probably had just turned over and reset the alarm clock for another 15 minutes snooze. What happened no one expected, but a few seconds changed their lives forever.  Six point nine on the Richter scale, the earth shook like a bowl of jello and houses came tumbling down. schools caved in and debris became the burial gound for many. What's going on?

It was supposed to be a day to honor those who were slain in the Second World war.  Those who had been needlessly murdered . The Polish people were the pinball on a billiard table for years between two nations  before they were  finally able to celebrate their national solidarity and their sovereignty. Thus, this was a special day enroute to Katyn. What happened, no one knows. The people who could tell us are no longer, for on that day 96 people went down as the plane  tried to land in heavily foggy weather.  What's going on?

The earth cries out  in pain. It is distraught  and we are mourning our lost. We seek answers but where do we go to find them? 

 As I look back, I remember very well the years of 2001 through  2003. I began the year saying goodbye to two of my loved ones and one of them was my Dad. If you had told me  in the year 2000 that I would say goodbye to seven people whom I had built close ties with beginning with the year 2001, to include also my mother in 2002, I probably would have thought you were crazy.  As I talked to my father the day before he died, we shared a father-daugther conversation and I closed our transatlantic talk telling him that I loved him and would call again tomorrow to speak to my mother. Little did I know that those would be the last words that I would say to him.  And through the next two years, each death was a blow and I cried out what's going on?

 Where do you go when you do not know what is happening in your life? Where  do you go in the midst of the  crisis? Who do you cry out to? Where do you find the peace you need to calm the storms within you and around you? Whom do you ask for help when it seems as if you are going under?

One word answer, JESUS. The storm was high;the boat was filling with water. The more water  they threw out, the more the water came in. It was a helpless task, they were defeating themselves and saw that they were going to go under. Meanwhile, JESUS was lying in the boot of the boat, sleeping after a hard day's work, regenerating his earthly body. How could he sleep when this storm was about to destroy them all. Appalled  HÉ was awoken by his disciples, Master do you not care if we all perish? I believe JESUS look at them with sleep in his eyes and probably also a little bit of humour as he told the storm to be still. And they were speechless. Who is this man that can calm the sea with a word?  A question that they would continually asked themselves  until the day of his resurrection when they discovered what's going on. JESUS the Risen LORD.

This is not humanism. Man is not the center of the universe. The beginning of man is not himself, it is GOD. Neither is it fatalism for the end of man is not the end,HE faces GOD his Creator either as his judge or as his Redeemer.  Neither is it the beauty of nature that saves us, it is the blood of JESUS CHRIST, the Son of GOD and that same JESUS will take us through every what's going on crisis we face on our journey.

In my crisis during those two years 2001-2003, I cried out to JESUS, In my pain, I found comfort in HIS eternal word. In my despair, I  took Him up on His  invitation to go to Him if I were burdened and weighted down and I held on to that promise that HE would give me rest.  In my loneliness, I reached out  to Him as a small child would reach out to her father and I cuddled up in His Word as revealed in the Bible and felt His nearness. No longer was I alone.  There is nothing that can seperate us from the love of GOD.

Thus let us move out and move forward. Let us stand out like lights brightly shinning  in darkness. People are looking for answers and we have them.  They want to know what's going on and we are the  people that can tell them  and lead them back home to GOD. If Nineveh turned back to GOD in sackcloth and ashes as Jona preached repentance, how much more will the people in our families,  in our circle of friends and acquaintances, in our countries  turned back when they see us walking a life of right living through Christ Jesus that compels them to repent.

May the LORD who is near to all who call on Him give you peace throughout the following week.

Schalom,

Pat Garcia Schaack

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OH GOD, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING?

 Just finished reading the first three books of the old testament and was astonished at the comparisons I found there in my own life. One of these experiences I would like to share with you, my readers.  One  of the chief complaints of the children of Israel was there mumbling against GOD out of their own doubt and unbelief during their wilderness experience. They wanted to enter the land of Cannan but they kept looking back at what they once had. Letting go of the old and looking forward to the new was not yet in their spirits,  so each time affliction came upon them, they yearned for Egypt, having quickly forgotten the afflictions that they had gone through under the Egyptian people.  I had  often wondered why GOD led them through the wilderness instead of taking the short cut. And even though I had read through the Bible many times I had never seen these verses until this year. Being a smarty pants, who sometimes think she knows it all,  I thought that GOD had made a mistake and HE had set the people up for unnecessary trials until I read:  Exodus 13:17-18- And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that GOD led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for GOD said, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: but GOD led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt (KJV).  All of a sudden while reading this, I received that A-Ha experience. GOD was concerned about His people wanting to go back, if they were immediately confronted with war. HE was showing the FATHER side of His love for His chosen people.  I wondered why I had not seen that before. Deep within my spirit, I heard the inner voice of the  HOLY SPIRIT laughingly saying  that now I was ready to hear it.

 Ever wondered about GOD's actions? Have you ever thought GOD was  deaf and not listening to  your prayers?  Have you ever let your words, frustrations or your unbanded desires bind GOD's hand and keep you from moving forward because you thought HE was moving too slow? Have you ever reacted like a stubborn mule or a goat because you thought GOD had forgotten you? If you have never experienced these things, then you are one of the lucky ones.  Let me tell you,  I have. And for those of you out there that may be battling with this at this moment, let me encourage you to hold on. You are not forgotten. GOD is not trying you unnecessarily. HE is working in you a perfect work and when your trial is over, you will have  successfully landed  in the spot where you are supposed to be.

You say, Oh Patricia, that is good talking,  but you do not know what I am going through. Oh, yes I do. It may not be the same thing that I am experiencing or have experienced, but the battle against uncertainty, fear of failure, self-pity, rejection, intimidation, timidity  and whatever else Satan tries to throw at us are the same. His tactics are aim at our mind. He tries to get us to deny the power, the love and the care that GOD has for us. Thus, it is so important to think about what we say. The power of life and death is in the tongue, says Proverbs 18:21. Most of us know this and say this verse often  but we forget the last part, - "And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof". In other words, we have to learn to speak out what GOD has promised us.  GOD spoke and the world came into existence!  JESUS is the Word which became flesh! What we speak matters. But you are probably thinking  I tried that and it did not work for me. No, just choosing a verse of scripture from your head will not work. I can guarantee you that. However taking  a word of scripture that the HOLY SPIRIT has dropped in your heart will work. GOD guarantees that HE will do what HE says.

Thus in the midst of what you are going through, take time to commune with GOD. That does not mean going to church or joining another church project. These things are needed and should already be considered  an  integral and essential  part of our lives. No,  what I am talking about is communing with GOD alone. Taking the time to get to know Him for yourself. Take your Bible and a writing tablet or for those of you, like myself, who prefer using a laptop, get a USB stick and write down the verses of scriptures and the  communication that the HOLY SPIRIT drops into your heart. And do not panic, if you do not receive anything the first time you try it. Just keep on doing it and believe me, the day will come and you will know that the presence of GOD is in your prayer time.

Do these things help GOD to move quicker or help you to understand His actions?  No, they do not, but they do help you to strengthen your faith, to let go, to develop inner peace, to resist the devil and submit to GOD and His actions in your life.

And at the appointed time, you will experience the goodness of the LORD. 

May the LORD who is near to all who calls on Him keep you in His everlasting arms.

Schalom,

Pat Garcia Schaack

The Sacrificial Lamb

HE was the Word  pure,  without any shades of turning mixed with compromises and deceptions, without spots and blemishes mixed with lies and human reasoning, HE was the Word, the totally perfect Word. His mission had been decided even before we were created. 

Thirty-three years, the Word became flesh and walked among us. HE healed the sick, destroyed strongholds, and released those that were imprisoned and tortured by evil spirits that had ankered themselves within their soul. For the first time in the history of humankind, people were experiencing freedom, healing, joy and contentment.

They began to see GOD not as the strict lawmaker wrapped up in a bunch of  Mosiac Laws left behind by Moses, but as a loving Father who loves and cares for His own.

And yet, HE was despised and rejected. Not being an attractive person,  people tended to ignore him. Not having attended the best universities of his time, the scholarly  people did not even consider it  worth the effort to get to know him. They saw him as  a tradesman, a carpenter, who would someday walk in the footprints of his earthly father.

No one saw the revelance of his being on earth outside of those in the heavenly realm. Thus, evil spirits called out, what have we to do with you, JESUS,  as HE cast them out of a young man and they went into the pigs. But instead of seeing and understanding that the CHRIST  had come,  the town people  were upset and asked him to leave immediately.

Not even those whom HE  had chosen to follow him three years long could grasp the reality of whom they were learning from. Sure, one of them walked on water, some of them healed the sick, others cast out demons and they all saw many people being fed, their hunger being stilled,  but the reality that this man who looked like  'everyman'  could be the Saviour of the world was not a part of their understanding. The pieces all came together on the day of the resurrection!

HE, JESUS, was the sacrificial lamb, totally pure, totally stainless, entirely the WORD. The WORD had become flesh and lived among us.

"HE was despised and rejected-, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. HE was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses HE carried; it was our sorrows' that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from GOD, for His own sins! HE was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins, HE was beaten so we could be whole. HE was whipped so we could be healed" (Isaiah 53:3-5 - Hope For Today Bible)

And yet, HE was slain.  That which no bull, cow, sheep or any other kind of animal could achieve, HE achieved with his death on the cross. A one time sacrifice that tore the veil as HE died and opened the way for all of us to come boldly before the throne of grace and worship and love the FATHER, for us all to come back home where we belong.

The way to the FAT'HER has been reopened. Today, we no longer have to take a sacrificial offering and appear before a priest inorder to experience atonement for our sins. We can go directly to the FATHER ourselves.

But what about that slained lamb? Is he dead?

Did you not know? Have you not heard?  The slain lamb rose again on that third day and declared all power in His hands. HE lives in the eternal now! HE lives forever! 

Can anything ever separate us from CHRIST's  love? Does it mean HE no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, " For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.") No despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through CHRIST, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from GOD's  love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow__ not even the powers of hell can separate us from GOD's  love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below__indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of GOD, that is revealed in CHRIST JESUS our LORD. Romans 8:35-39 Hope For Today Bible) 

May the love of GOD shine graciously upon you and give you peace.

Schalom,

Pat Garcia Schaack