No Hamburgers?

Do you ever feel like the whole world is out of place except you? I have. The other night I decided to drive over to McDonalds for a hamburger. I knew exactly what I wanted, so I entered the drive-thru and without looking at the menu gave my order to the guy through the speaker.

"I’ll have a hamburger, small fries, and a small Diet Coke," I said.

Then the voice in the speaker spoke words I never expected to hear. He said, "I'm sorry sir, we have no hamburgers."

"What?" I asked. "No hamburgers?"

"No Sir," He said.

Filled with frustrating disappointment, I leaned toward the speaker and asked, "How could you possibly not have any hamburgers?"

The voice in the speaker politely said, "This is Chick-Fil-A sir!"

At that moment, I realized that the whole world was out of place. Humbly I said to the voice in the speaker, "Never mind." I quickly pulled out of line and drove next door to McDonald's. How could I be so out of touch with where I was? All I had to do was look up and pay attention to the signs.

Today, signs of a changing world are all around us. We go about our day to day routine, assured in our own mind of where we are and what we are doing; yet, the world around us has changed. We are no longer living in the world of our youth. It no longer exists. I wanted a hamburger in a place that said, “Eat more chicken.” So no matter how badly I wanted a hamburger, there were none to be had.

We long for the old days, the simple, safe and secure days of our world; but those days and that world are gone. Sometimes our world changes instantly with the loss of a loved one, a job, a home, or even a church. Other times we wake up to discover a gradual change has happened without our even noticing. So what do we do when our world has been pulled out from under us, and we find ourselves in this new world? We go to the one who never changes. We go to the rock!

“He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62:2 (NLT)

Jesus is our rock, and in Him we firmly stand. His word is our guiding light in a changing world. He can reach into a lunch basket and pull out a feast for multitudes. He can calm the stormy sea. He can walk through the fiery volcanoes of our lives and bring us safely out without our clothes being singed or smelling of ash.

The Bible warns of a changing world with wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places, and social upheaval. All these things must come to pass as the Bible predicted, but as Christians, we have the blessed promise that He, Lord Jesus, is coming back for His people. In this changing world, we are to comfort one another with these words.

"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NLT)

We shall suddenly be in a new and glorious world with the Lord. We, believers, look forward to that day. Meanwhile, as startling as it is to find ourselves in a different world here, if we will just look up, we will find that our steps are ordered by the One Who holds us safely in the palm of His hand, our Creator, Our God.

Copyright © Gene Markland. Used by permission.