The world correctly has been outraged by the kidnapping of the 276 Nigerian girls by the terrorist group Boko Haram. We pray that God will protect them from these criminals who intend to sell them as sex slaves and deliver them to return to their families. However, lost amid all the media attention on this case, is the reason these girls were kidnapped. They are Christians. Boko Haram is Muslim. This is another incident of the horrendous persecution of the church of Jesus by Muslim insurgents and terrorists in Nigeria. It infuriates me the way the press makes it appear that this is an equal opportunity conflict with vicious Christians on one side and vicious Muslims on the other. It is not. The only crime those on the Christian side of the conflict have been guilty of has been having faith in Jesus instead of Mohammed. Those poor little girls have received this despicable treatment purely due to the fact that they are identified with Christ.
I can be a real klutz. I have very few manual skills and I never grew out of the "tripping over my own feet" stage of life. I have fumbled and dropped more than my fair share of balls. In other words, "oops" has been a regular part of my vocabulary. It is not only in the physical world that I have fumbled things. I have messed up relationships. I have prejudged people before ever getting to know them. I have used and abused those who love me most in this world. I have failed and sinned my way into more than one tight corner and created untold disasters. Oops is not even sufficient for the ways that I have blown it. Perhaps that is why something Paul, our worship leader last Sunday, said resonated so deeply with me this week. He said "Oops is never said in heaven." Our God never is clumsy. He never makes mistakes. His plans never go belly-up. He never fails. He never ever has to say oops - and that comforts me.
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