Evacuation Warnings

Good morning on this fine Wednesday. The smoke from the High Park fire went a different direction yesterday. Our evening skies cleared while Denver gasped and choked. I read in the article that two evacuation calls went unanswered before the fire claimed the life of a cabin owner. We can make guesses about unwilling or unable to answer, calls arriving too soon or too late, but in truth we may never know what happened. The same thing happens in almost every major hurricane. Calls go out, most people flee, but inevitably it seems, someone wants to 'ride it out' in their home. People will cling to their earthly homes in the face of overwhelming danger. I would imagine that back in the days of invading armies soldiers were often baffled by those who remained in their homes in spite of overwhelming evidence of the take-no-prisoners, burn-everything-to-the-ground approach of the invasion forces. Then, I wonder what 'evacuation' notices I might have missed in my life.

Near the end of Revelation, an angel will issue an evacuation order to the faithful followers of Jesus living in Babylon. At the very end of the reign of Antichrist, one more evacuation notice to ignore or heed. Will the people flee? An angel will give the warning, but will only the faithful obey the order? That little excursion aside, back to my question before I manage to wriggle away from it by diving into the Revelation. Does God send evacuation notices to me or any other follower of Jesus in our lives now, today, or perhaps yesterday when I wasn't paying attention? We pray to God bringing our lists of relatives in need, friends in medical distress, our needs for this bill and that, children who do not seem to following their righteous upbringing, and requests for forgiveness, either specific sins or that old standby of 'just forgive me for everything, Lord!' How often do we pause the recitation of our prayer list and ask, "Lord, do you have an evacuation notice for me?" Going to the Lord in prayer to listen is a bit like going to the doctor for a checkup, we aren't sure that we want to hear what He has to say. Who better to listen to when we have questions about living this life? Bring the list of needs to the Lord, but pause to listen also. The Lord might just say something like, "I love you!"

Bucky