JACKSON, Tenn. (BP) — C.S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain says that God often uses the experiences of suffering as a megaphone to awaken us. Suffering and pain, Lewis said, are often the essential means by which God brings about dependence, fortitude, patience and forgiveness in his children, while also arousing acts of mercy and compassion.
As I have reflected on the events of Feb. 5 on the Union University campus and the challenging days since that time, I have been helped greatly by the thoughts of Lewis in this regard.
Certainly we have seen thousands of acts of mercy and compassion from people who have responded to the massive needs associated with Union University. These acts of mercy and compassion have come from people near to the university, from people on the political left and the ideological right, from people on both sides of theological and denominational divides, and amazingly from people far away who hardly know anything about Union University.
Nearly 4,000 volunteers have given their time and service. Nearly 2,000 people have given financial gifts to help meet the incredible needs across our campus. Even more have prayed and offered their encouragement, kindness and support.
Truly the painful aftermath of the storm has, as Lewis so insightfully observed, aroused multiple acts of mercy and compassion across the Baptist family and beyond and we want to again and again express our deep and heartfelt gratitude.
We particularly are grateful to congregations and entities across the Southern Baptist Convention who have responded so generously to our challenges. We are grateful for larger gifts from LifeWay, GuideStone, Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes, the Tennessee Baptist Convention's Executive Board and the SBC Executive Committee. But we are also grateful for the many sacrificial gifts from students attending our seminaries and colleges. Larger churches like Bellevue, Faith (Bartlett, Tenn.), FBC Naples, Prestonwood and others have given significant gifts, for which we are most grateful. We are, however, especially grateful for amazing gifts like those from Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Bradford, Tenn.
Most of all we pray for an urgent sense of our own complete and total dependence on God for all aspects of life. No doubt the haunting and perplexing questions that remain in our hearts and minds will linger. God may at times like these seem distant for some. When that happens what should we do? I believe that we all can learn to trust the providence of God anew, even when we have unanswered questions, and we can find rest in the words of the hymn writer, “Great is thy Faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not, they compassions they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be. Great is They Faithfulness.”
We pray for God to bring renewal out of the rubble across the campus as we trust afresh in God's amazing, mysterious, and gracious providence.