Facing the storms of life
Igrew up in Largo, Florida, which is between Clearwa ter and St. Petersburg, in Pinellas County. It was not uncommon for us to have tropical systems, storms, and hurricanes that either hit or affected us. I have vivid memories of trees falling, flooding, and powerful winds blowing outside our house. Once, we had cement disks with pelicans on them, that were hanging on the front of our house, ripped away by powerful winds.
Helene has brought great and historic destruction to my hometown area a few days ago, as well as all up the eastern part of the United States. I have family in Upper South Carolina and in the mountains of North Georgia and North Carolina. As I write this, many are still without power and cut off because of the destruction of bridges and roads.
One family interviewed on television had moved from Florida after recent hurricanes to get somewhere “safer.” However, they were devastated by Helene and lost their new home in the mountains. It appears you can’t get away from storms.
Even in Alabama, we are acquainted with horrific storms. I worked as a Disaster Relief Chaplain during the 2011 tornado event and later in other areas after other hurricane and flooding events. I have seen the great destruction wind, rain, flooding, and fires can cause-and how lives are forever changed. Storms are a terrible part of life.
Our Lord knew we would face storms in life, both in terms of rain, floods, and winds, but also in other ways in our lives- whether in terms of health, relationships, finances, and faith. Jesus said that we can’t escape the storms, but we can survive them by trusting in Him and His words. He said, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house: and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” (Matt. 7:24) Let us pray for the folks recently hit by the storm, and give generously to meet their needs, just as others helped us in our time of need. Let us also prepare for the coming storms of life by trusting in Him and His Word.
