Hostile Planet

Do you ever complain to God about this hostile planet He created?

I cry to the Lord with my voice; * to the Lord I make loud supplication.

I pour out my complaint before him * and tell him all my trouble.

When my spirit languishes within me, you know my path; * in the way wherein I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

I look to my right hand and find no one who knows me; * I have no place to flee to, and no one cares for me.

I cry out to you, O Lord; * I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

Listen to my cry for help, for I have been brought very low; * save me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me.

Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your Name; * when you have dealt bountifully with me, the righteous will gather around me. - Psalm 142

I try not to think that God is against me. 

Sometimes, though, it seems like the world is against me, throwing obstacles in my way, giving me reason to doubt the course I am on.

But I don't believe that is God's doing.

God designed this planet we live on to be hostile in many ways. It erupts and shakes. It spits and rumbles. It recycles water from the seas to the land, purifying it, but causing floods and landslides in the process.

If it didn't act like a living thing, a beast of creation, we wouldn't be able to survive.

The idea that life started in a garden where animals and humans lived in harmony, eating fruit and sleeping together, is a bit far-fetched. Maybe it could be real, but not today. Not with the world the way it is now.

I believe the planet will survive us. It will reclaim land and place it under the sea. And it will spew out lava to make new land where there was only sea.  

We will scramble to find a safe place on this busy planet to live and die.

The forests and streams will return when we find other ways to make things. God planned it that way. We need God's help to manage our lives in this hostile place.

So, God, bring me out of my prison and help me to enjoy your creation, knowing it is awesome and fierce.

More to come...