Hope Amid the Mud
Published Date: January 4, 2019
We hear so much bad news about things that are happening in the Body of Christ. Sometimes it feels like everything is going downhill and we are left wondering what the future holds for the Church. When we focus on the negative things we hear, sometimes it can be easy to develop tunnel vision and lose hope in what we are doing. We have a deep-seated need to remember the faithfulness of God and the good work that is being done in and through his Church. And sometimes, we have to learn to cling hard to the hope we have been given in Christ Jesus, even when we are neck deep in mud. We hope this story, from our Alumni Council President, will encourage you to look for hope when your confidence is shaken. A year ago this week, some of our own alumni found themselves and their communities in peril, as wildfires tore through California. David Goss shares what he and his ministry colleagues experienced in the wake of those events as the crisis made way for his community to support one another.
“Our city is entering into its own recession”, said John, a neighbor and business owner.
Santa Barbara is a tourist town, and over the last seven weeks, the tourism industry has taken a huge hit. The smoke and ash from the Thomas Fire made Santa Barbara almost uninhabitable. Schools and businesses closed and thousands left town, but the worst was yet to come. On Monday night, January 8, a torrential downpour triggered massive mudslides in the middle of the night which claimed 25 lives, injured scores more, and destroyed homes and businesses.
The 101 Freeway was closed until Sunday, January 21. The two weeks without the normal flow of traffic between Santa Barbara and the south resulted in major financial losses for businesses. An alternative route to Los Angeles takes 5.5 to 8 hours depending on traffic. The normal drive time is less than two hours.
On Sunday, January 14, I was given a tour of the devastated areas by a friend and senior member of the Montecito Fire Department. It was amazing to see a typical street one moment only to turn a corner and see total devastation: uprooted trees, boulders everywhere, cars buried in mud, sections of homes far removed from their foundations. Ed, my fireman friend, told me that of the forty-two members of the Montecito Fire Department, they expected two-four to resign soon thereafter. “It’s been too hard on some of them. They have pulled children’s bodies out of the mud and debris, and some can’t handle it.”
In the middle of it all, I have had moments when I seriously doubt my impact and ability as a pastor. Words of comfort and wise counsel are fleeting. As my family prepares to attend the funeral of my son’s best friend’s grandfather, who died in the mudslides, we recall stories from other funerals. We are collectively numb as citizens of this city, and we feel weak. But we are not without hope. Christians have been taught to be confident in our weakness and failures. The Lord has surely been present and active among us—despite our weakness. Perhaps because of our weakness!
Romans 8:26-28 reads, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
I am glad to report that as a member of Christ’s victorious church, this defeat did not define us, it drove us to love and serve our city!
One week at church, a man spoke up who has been with us since the beginning. He and his wife lost their son in a motorcycle accident eighteen months before our church was launched in 2007. Blair was 19 years old. During the “Prayers and Praises” time of the worship service, JP said, “We have come to know that tragedy can make us stronger if we allow Jesus in. We can grow and change and God will use the tragedy for His purposes…if we let Him.”
Coming from JP, those words carried weight. So we prayed, “Come Lord Jesus. Enter in to our tragedies, and bring hope amid the mud.” And He did.
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God is still in charge of everything.
Who is the author of this article! Appreciate your report and testimony.
That would be our Alumni Council president, David Goss.