There's A Hole In The Bottom Of The Sea

"There's a frog, on the knot, on the log, in the hole in the bottom of the sea." Not sure if you've ever heard that song, but it was one my Dad sang way too much when I was growing up. He would start it up at times like when we were on long trips and we had played the ABC game until all of us kids were bored out of our minds. It never mattered how much we protested, the song went on and on and on. And while the song was a bit annoying, I never really thought about the fact that there might be a big hole in the bottom of the sea. Until now that is. Now looking at what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico, that annoying song seems to be playing out in front of us. I'm thinking maybe if we could find a big enough log with a big enough knot and a big enough frog, we could solve a really big problem.

Ok, so maybe the whole log, knot, frog thing isn't going to work, but it appears nothing else is getting the job done either. Now, while I have no idea how to fix the spewing oil in the Gulf, as they didn't offer that course at the school I attended, I'm struggling a bit with the fact that we are pretty intelligent beings but can't plug a hole. I know, I know, its deep underwater and its got a lot of pressure forcing the oil out, and I'm sure the greatest minds are at work trying to fix it. I think there a couple of things that bother me about this whole thing. Number one is that those who lost their lives in this accident have pretty much become a side note. Let's remember that children have been left fatherless, wives have lost husbands, and mom's and dad's have lost sons. Another thing that bothers me is everyone blaming everyone else. BP's under the gun, the government's getting hammered, people are mad at oil companies, and our President is going to kick somebody's... well, we won't go there. I'm thinking lets just get the hole plugged and then worry about all that later.

Anyways, I was just sitting here wondering what God thinks when He sits back and watches mankind do his thing? I mean lets face it, we are really good at making messes. Lets see, there was that Russian nuclear meltdown thing, Exxon Valdez, the unsinkable Titanic that sank, and the madman from Germany to name a few. Throughout the ages we've made one mess after another. Our man-made messes date all the way back to the first man and woman that God created. Remember, there was that whole forbidden fruit thing that really got things headed in the wrong direction. The problem with that mess though was that man's best efforts couldn't fix it. When Adam and Eve blew it in the garden, mankind was presented with a problem that only God, Himself could bail them out of. Fixing this mess would require a hefty price, but thank God, He stepped up to the plate and did what He had to do to save humanity.

What is so special about mankind, that God would stop at nothing to save him? Scripture says it like this, "What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that You visit him?" The longer I live the more I believe that this is really less about the man and more about God. What I'm trying to say is that this scenario reveals much more about the heart of God than it does about the value of man. Think about it all for a minute. God does an amazing work in His creation of the universe. He spins the planets into motion and adorns the sky with the sun, moon, and stars. He landscapes our planet with mountains, plains, oceans, and thousands upon thousands of different kinds of plant life. Then, He continues this creative wonder by creating sea life, birds of the air, and every kind of "creeping" thing that calls this planet home. And, to top it all off, He creates us and places us right smack in the middle of all He's created and allows us to be stewards of it all. Then "we," the thankful, and gracious recipients of all His goodness did what could only be expected. We did what amounts to spitting in His face by rejecting Him and aligning ourselves with the enemy of God. Crazy isn't it? Can you see the big mess we caused?

What's even crazier is how God responds to our mess. He cleans it up. Wait a minute, let me paint the complete picture. It's like we're in the middle of the ocean surrounded by flesh eating sharks and God doesn't just simply throw out a life saver. No, instead He throws Himself to the sharks in order to rescue us. Our actions put us under a death sentence, but instead of God simply turning a blind eye, He takes our place and condemns Himself to death in the person of Jesus. What's mind boggling is that after all of that, there are those who still reject this God and all His goodness.

While I have no idea how this oil spill in the Gulf is going to play out and how big of a mess it will ultimately be, I know for certain that regardless of how big it is, it will never compare to the mess we created in that garden so many years ago. And while it is certain, this clean-up will probably cost more than any clean up effort in our history, the price that was paid for our salvation eclipses it by a long shot.

Now, let me see where was I? Oh yeah, all together now..."There's a hair, on the wart, on the frog, on the knot, on the log, in the hole in the bottom of the sea...there's a hole, there's a hole, there's a hole in the bottom of the sea."