Louisiana

A clean-up worker picks up blobs of oil in absorbent snare on Queen Bess Island at the mouth of Barataria Bay near the Gulf of Mexico in Plaquemines Parish, La., Friday, June 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

This picture makes me sick and sad at the same time. I grew up in Louisiana. I still have family and friends in Louisiana. Offshore oil rigs and the fishing industry employ lots of people in Louisiana. People I grew up with. People who are just trying to make a living and feed their kids. Some of the same people who were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and who are just now getting back on their feet. Now this. Don't even get me started with the politics of the whole situation. That is almost worse than the spill itself. It is overwhelming to think about.

I'm the first to admit that while I try to be optimistic about most things, the logical part of me looks at this mess and thinks, "How will it get cleaned up?" and "How long will it take?" and "Why did God allow it to happen?" Then I have to remind myself that God is still in control. This oil spill is not a surprise to Him. He is not up in heaven wringing his hands and pacing the floor wondering what to do. I take great comfort in that. Isaiah 55:8-9 says,"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I do pray that God provides a quick, amazingly effective solution. I also pray that the people affected by this spill come to know God and His peace and power and provision in a brand new way.