Abel: A Picture of Hope

We haven't had too much contact with people in Bundibugyo since we have returned stateside. A 9-hr time difference and spotty internet coverage makes connecting a bit of a challenge.

But when the text came through from my teammate saying that my friend was at the health center, had received a questionable ultrasound, was having some bleeding, and was now preparing for an emergency C-Section...well, I put mid-morning routine on hold and became fully engaged with events unfolding in my little town across the world. At only 34 weeks, I knew that this life, and not for the first time, was again in a very fragile place. C-Sections in Bundibugyo (ok, births in general in Bundibugyo) come at high risk for both mother and baby. There are many, many things that can go wrong, not just during the procedure but after as well.

And so I called across the ocean and talked to her while she was waiting to see the doctor. She asked me what she should name the baby- a boy, she said she was having. I had no idea what to say but told her that God had already named that baby for her and she would know when she saw him. We prayed, we hugged across the phone, and then she headed on to the hospital, where they had power to perform the procedure. And then we waited.

The next text from my teammate said that the procedure went well, that mother and baby were doing fine and that she would be in the hospital for one week. This put my mind at ease, although I knew that this little duo would not be out of the woods for several more days or weeks. A baby that young has a hard time regulating its temperature, it has a poor suck, especially on a mama who has never produced milk before, not to mention less reserve for fighting infection and more risk for a mama who has just undergone major surgery. The desperate prayers and feelings of helplessness continued.

And then I got this picture. 

"His name is Abel" the text said. 

And my heart was  momentarily at peace. 

Indeed, the Creator of the Universe had knit this one together, a complete angel wrapped in flesh. And, yes, He had named this child.

Do you know what I love about the name Abel?

 {It embodies Hope.} 

In the story of Cain & Abel from Genesis 4, we see the first account of sin extending its grotesque arms through the lineage of Adam & Eve. Pride, jealousy, envy, bitterness, hatred grows forth in the heart of Cain when he sees the delight of the Lord in the pure and sacrificial offering that his brother Abel brought to the altar. The Lord has no regard for Cain's offering, which was essentially throwing "leftovers" to the Creator of the Universe, hoping that it would suffice and count as true worship. But at the crux of the matter, the sacrifices weren't what God was after. It was the heart. Abel understood his position before the Lord and bowed humbly before Him. Cain believed what he had came from the sweat of his own brow and was content to give back to the Lord the minimal amount. And so, outflowing from his sin-entangled heart, we see Cain murder his brother in cold blood: the first display of human-generated Injustice creeping into a perfectly created world.

"Where is the Hope in that?" you might ask.

The Hope is actually in the promise that God makes to Satan in Genesis 3, before The Great Injustice occurs between Cain & Abel. "...he {the seed of the woman} shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." It is the foreshadowing of the Great Injustice, and the promise of a Kinsman Redeemer. It is God telling Satan that, yes, he would bruise the heel of God's most beloved creation. But the seed of the woman, the Promised One of God, Jesus Christ, was going to one day fatally strike his head and the game was gonna be over. His twisted facade of power was going to be done. Things are going to be made right again. The world will be restored back to its Creator and back to a perfect & intimate union with Him. This happened on the Cross, when Jesus overcame Death and crushed the reign of Satan. "It is Finished..." were our Savior's last words. And indeed it was. 

We have been saved by One who fought that Battle for us, and there is a Day coming when the fighting between good and evil will cease and peace and righteousness and justice and mercy will reign forever and ever. 

The Promised One has come  

...{and thus we have hope}, 

and He is coming again 

...{and thus we live with hope}.

Bundibugyo The World needs more Abel's.  

We need more reminders that Injustice has not won this war. 

We need to be reminded that God is still in the business of making fragile and 

broken things beautiful and perfect. 

Yes, Darkness is real, and the spiritual forces of Evil are overwhelming and oppressive.

{But Christ has come.}

 He has crushed the head of Satan and we no longer have to live in fear of Evil. We no longer have to toil and plod to earn God's favor (or anyone else's). He sees us, He sees this little fragile one and already sees his entire life- all the choices, good and bad, that he is going to make. And because God's Son, our Kinsman Redeemer, has already paid the price of the Great Injustice, we are beautiful again in the sight of our Creator.  And so my Hope for this little one, and all the fragile ones that hold the future of Bundibugyo is that they would know true Redemption and the Hope that has purchased them for Eternity.

This is Life.
{living in reality, yet clinging to Hope}