Debris

"See what kind of love the Father has give to us, that we should be called the children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him." 1st John 3:1 ESV

In my line of work I see a lot of demolished buildings but I can tell you seeing one blown up is an awesome sight to behold. Seeing something that was built to withstand the weather and the ages taken down in mere seconds by a few pounds of well placed explosives is awe inspiring to say the least. But the thing I want to talk about is the things that are left after the explosion. The rubble. The debris. The pieces that are left after the explosion. It's a great metaphor for our lives.  

When a building is taken down it ends up in a huge heap on the ground. There is bent and broken steel sticking out, huge chunks of rough and broken concrete strewn all around the area where a building once stood. 

Our lives are often times like the building, standing tall and proud, but it only takes one well placed explosive to rock us to our foundation. All it takes is a car wreck, a job loss, a divorce, a death of a loved one, it simply takes something coming out of nowhere to cause us to be left in a heap. Just like that building I described, with pieces of our lives strewn all around us, looking for a way to rebuild what we once had before. 

I once heard a story about an earthquake that left a town in a heap of debris. There was a father that heard that the school that his son attended, had collapsed with everyone inside. When the father arrived he was told there was nothing that could be done and that all were lost. He ignored everyone and started digging with his bare hands, searching for his only son. 

The man worked as quickly as he could, working his way down through the large pile of debris where a school once stood. The man worked through the cuts on his hands from the bent steel and bricks that filled the area. Everyone kept trying to stop his efforts telling him that there was no point and that there was no way anyone survived. His response always rocks me to my soul, "Join me or leave me alone!" 

Four days later, the same father, who kept telling everyone the same thing every time someone would ask him to stop or give up, heard a small voice, "Daddy, is that you?" Beneath a small pile of debris that had once been a school, the man reached his son. Not only had he found his son, he found the boys classmates and his teacher. Standing there as the last child was pulled safely from the debris, the man's son was heard to tell some in his class, "Didn't I tell you that my daddy would come?"

God's love for us is just like the love expressed by the man who was told his son was lost. He will search and search through the rubble and debris that is our lives to save us. There is no one that is past saving. There is no life that is too damaged. That is how strong God's love for us is. Jesus tells us in Luke 15:4-7 in the parable of the lost sheep that God is a persistent Father who is there for us, even when we are lost and things seem hopeless.