Today's Devotional

October 4, 2005

Subject:  How God Desegregates 

Matthew 5:45 - "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

The year was 1994.  Albany, Georgia had just suffered through a 100 year flood...that was on the east side of town anyway.  That was across the railroad tracks where many of the blacks lived.  On the other side of town, I belonged to the largest church in town which was predominantly Caucasian.  When I say predominantly Caucasian, I mean about 3000 to 6 or something of that magnitude.  However, in God's display of the insignificance of color or race and how He can put us together against our own choices, the church was one of few facilities able to accommodate the hundreds and perhaps thousands left homeless by the flood.  The next Sunday it was strange to see the mix of hues in the morning worship service.  

God brings His pain and His rain on the just and on the unjust and it's not without purpose.  It is clearly to show us that there is one fate for all of us and that should give us cause to seek the good of others without regard to where they are in life or what they are in life.  If I build my house in an "exclusive" community on the other side of town, do I think that will keep me from seeing that there are hurting people in other parts of the city?  Doubtful.  God has a way of bringing us all back to Him.

I was reminded of all of this again as Hurricane Rita moved into the Southeast Texas area a couple of weeks ago.  We opened up a shelter and had Hispanics, blacks and whites, with their children and all strangers to each other spending the night together in one room.  When the storms of life are coming and the only thing that matters is survival, it's amazing how insignificant color becomes.  While we try legislation and initiatives to get mankind to live in harmony, in one seemingly effortless breath, God can make it happen.  This is how God desegregates.  

Carlen