Searching and Finding

Kim Spink was shopping at Wal-Mart in Joplin, Missouri, when a massive tornado struck the city last Sunday, May 22.  Her husband, Greg, and their three children waited out the storm in their basement at home.

As soon as the storm was over, Greg and the children began searching for Kim.  They made their way to the Wal-Mart only to find it in shambles; only one wall was left standing.  Amidst the incredible rubble in the Wal-Mart parking lot, they found Kim’s SUV overturned and smashed having apparently been picked up by the tornado and thrown several feet.  Her family looked to see if she was in the vehicle; she wasn’t.

Greg and the children continued to look for Kim, not knowing if they would find her alive or lifeless among the destruction left by the storm.  After three long, agonizing hours, they found her.  She was walking toward their home, unsure if it or her family had survived the storm.

“We had a reunion in the middle of the street,” Greg Spink said.  What an incredibly joyous and tear-filled reunion that must have been!

How did Kim survive when the tornado ripped through the Wal-Mart?  She was behind the one wall that was left standing. *

As our hearts are filled with compassion for the people of Joplin whose lives have been torn apart by the storm (see the links below for some ways to help), we are reminded of the preciousness of our families, the pain of loss, but in some cases like the Spink family – the joy of reunion.

The Spinks’ ordeal reminds us of another search and rescue mission…

Amidst the devastation that SIN has brought into the world and into our lives, many are searching for God.  It is God’s design and desire that “men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).

When one turns to the Scriptures in his search for God, he soon discovers that God has already been “searching” for him – and has made provision for his eternal salvation!

Because of His great love for us, God sent His Son into the world to experience firsthand the trials and temptations of life.  “In all things [Jesus] had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). 

This same merciful and faithful High Priest offered the ONE sacrifice – Himself – on the cross to pay the price for our redemption and give eternal life to those who accept His offer.  Through His atoning death, one finds life and the promise of living eternally in a place where “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, [nor] pain” and all the other things that are associated with the devastating storms of this life (Rev. 21:4).

Jesus will save those who: place their faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess His name before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are UNITED with Him in baptism (immersion) for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  Those who remain faithful to Him can look forward to a wonderful
RE-UNION when He comes to take His family home to heaven (see John 14:1-6).

Continue searching for GOD and you will discover that He has been searching for YOU! 

Accept His offer of salvation from sin and from the storms of life.

Won’t YOU?

** Several disaster relief agencies associated with the church of Christ are reaching out to the victims of recent storms including the Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team (www.churchesofchristdrt.org), Churches of Christ Disaster Assistance (www.disasterassistancecoc.com), and the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort (www.disasterreliefeffort.org).  See the websites for ways to help.

David A. Sargent, Minister