Out of the Haitian Rubble

The other night I saw another miracle story on the Internet - news of a Haitian woman being rescued after eight days of being buried between slabs of concrete. Her husband had been searching for her. You've got to see it. "If I die" she said in Creole, yelling up through the crevasses, "tell my husband I love him."

After three hours of digging, nine L.A. rescue workers pulled her out. Resting on the stretcher near the hole she just exited, and still covered with dirt and dust, this woman started to sing, "God has delivered me from death." With a strong, clear voice that defied medical science, she seemed to be manifesting multitudes of Scriptures. The Scriptures in my heart were speaking to me as a "living epistle" expressed truth in flesh and blood.

Again, another testimony of a woman buried and on her knees for five days not being able to move was asked by a CNN reporter, "How did you do it?" "The Lord Jesus Christ," she clearly answered. "I read my Bible every day and I trusted in Him. I quoted the Psalms as much as I could remember. I knew I would get out."

In a world where believers are locked in an ideological battle with unbelievers on many levels, there is something incredibly powerful emerging from the Haitian rubble. Voltaire, after a devastating earthquake in his day, who mocked God for the tragedy, is joined by today's skeptics with that age-old argument - "How could a good God allow this to happen?"

Perhaps, the Internet is being used to speak powerfully to searching hearts. There is an answer above the answer. There is a life singing praise. There is movement in the rubble. The movement is more than physical life - it is a testimony from the hand and breath of God. Yes, rubble is rubble, and to every miracle story there are thousands of other heartbreaking stories of loss. But let us approach God's ways carefully, for He has already told us that we do not understand.

Let us join our sisters and brothers in praise and thanks for God's salvation, His answers and His work.

In a way, we all lay on the stretchers, covered with dirt that is defying our faith and saying, "Curse God and die," as Job's wife advised him. Maybe the dirt is your marriage, your health, your finances, your natural life, or your sinful habits. But we know the One who is talking. 

The faith and spirit of these people touch me deeply. It is great encouragement.