A Lowly Dwelling For The Most High

I'll never forget the scene.  Colorful tap-taps sped by with their blaring music as mopeds weaved in and out of the traffic that never leaves the streets of Haiti.  I was literally face to face with the presidential palace of Haiti.  Once a great monument that housed the nation's president, it is now a heap of crumbled rocks.  But amidst the rubble and devastation, one could see the immaculateness this great facility once claimed.  It truly was fit for a president, perhaps even a king.  I turned around and the imagery that my eyes took in next was in such stark contrast that it took me a moment to adjust.

What was before my eyes now was a tent city.  Tents of every kind, shape, color and size...crammed one right after the other.  It has been estimated that some 300,000 Haitians have lived in tent cities all over the country since the earthquake and still do.  Women with weathered faces sat out and washed dishes.  Half-dressed children ran around jubilantly chasing one another.  The flags of their nation waved with dignity in the evening wind.  And yes, in this particular tent city, a ten year old girl is selling her body to earn some money for food.  My heart breaks, there are simply no words to say and yet in this darkest of moments, I felt the Lord reminding me of something glorious.

God lived in a tent once too.  (2 Samuel 7).  That was it, the Lord was giving me a fresh revelation like a raindrop from heaven.  I have been chewing on this all night and I just can't let it go.  One of God's many names is Immanuel, which means God with us.  It strikes me as terrible that God, the one and only true God, the big G, would live in a tent.  It seems as though it's the most inappropriate dwelling for the King of all kings.  And yet strung throughout this irony is a beauty and radiance so rare that when glanced at and grasped momentarily, the only response is raw worship unto a great God so loving and compassionate.

So what's my point?  God is with us.  Yes, God is with those precious children running around playing with kites made of recycled garbage.  God is with those women who have seen so much heartache.  God is with that sweet girl who is forced out of her childhood into a life of slavery because of the extreme hardship surrounding her.  And yes, God is still on His throne, reigning victoriously over Haiti and America and the whole world for that matter.  And yes, His government is unshakable!  Thank you God for being our Immanuel, for dwelling amongst us and with us in tents, huts, apartments, houses, and on streets.  You alone are God and good!