july 18 , 2006

With God as Our Shield in Haifa

It’s eerie to be traveling around the once bustling port city of Haifa.  For all intents and purposes the city has been shut down by the barrage of Katusha rockets by Hezbollah. 

We experienced first hand the “terror by day” (Psalm 91) Monday when several Katusha rockets landed in the city.  The first one came about 6:30 a.m. when the air raid siren went off.  Inside our hotel an announcement told all the guests to seek protection in the “safe rooms” located on every floor of the hotel.  The fact that there are safe rooms on every floor harkens back to another time Haifa was under attack, the 1991 Gulf War when Saddam Hussein rained down Scud missiles. 

For me, the announcement came in both Hebrew and French, languages unfamiliar to me, so I sought no shelter at all.  Thankfully, the missile landed away from our hotel.  More importantly, we believe the Lord is, and continues to be, our shield despite any language barrier. 
 
The missiles today are smaller than Hussein’s Scuds, but no less deadly.  On Sunday, eight Israelis died at the train station when a Katusha rocket plunged through the roof and sowed death on one of the platforms. 

The missiles land with a loud boom and then echo throughout the city.  On an overlook with a panoramic view of the area, most of the press from around the world gathered to report on the unfolding drama.  From that location, we did a live shot for the 700 Club high above the Mediterranean port.  Throughout the day several landed within eyeshot of all the cameramen on the promenade high. 

The disconcerting sense when the missiles fall is that you simple don’t know where they’re going to fall.  They don’t give you much time to react.  What I did hear is that if you hear the whistle of the missile, you do have time to hit the ground but not much more.  Yet sometimes you have to be outside and when you are out, the thoughts have crossed my mind: “Is there time to react?  Time to escape?”

The comforting thought for us is that we have prayed for God’s protection and believe the Lord will be our shield.  While not trying to be presumptuous, we pray and ask for His protection and trust the He will be our shield.

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