HEARING GOD’S HEART ABOUT TRAGIC STORMS
Storms are one thing, like we talked about last month. But hurricanes—and other tragic disasters, like this summer’s Texas flooding — are a totally different story, aren’t they? So, let’s talk about those deeper times and traumas, and some of the questions they bring up about God and His ways.
I will never forget the day I was having an irritable chat with the Lord, back in 2004, as I was driving down a busy Daniels Road. I was explaining—okay, maybe complaining—to Him about my wife’s seemingly over-reactive fear of a relatively small hurricane that was churning north outside of our coastline and forecast to hit Tampa a few days later.
“Maybe we ought to get some plywood to board up all of our windows, sliders, and doors,” she said. “Maybe we need to store up some water, emergency food, batteries, flashlights, and even a generator,” she droned on. And as I shared all this with Him in my thoughts, groans, and frustration, I finally blurted out: “Why can’t she have as much faith as I have that YOU are going to protect us, Lord, not the plywood and all that other stuff! Do you know how much work that would be?!! Faithless woman! Arrrrggg!!!”
Pause. Then my heart heard Him whisper:
“Son, I never promised to keep you from the storms. I promised to keep you through the storms.”
Oh. Right. Yeah, Jesus did say: “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” And yeah, I guess that includes hurricanes. So, call this truth number 1. Now, moving on . . .
“So how do you keep us through a hurricane, Lord?” That’s when I heard truth number 2.
“I start by prompting you to heed the warnings and prepare early on.”
Uh oh. That means the problem wasn’t my wife’s lack of faith. She had plenty. It was my lazy presumption about the future path of a hurricane and trying to pass it off as faith. Busted! Boy was my face red and my heart heavy. So, I repented (a radical change of mind and heart) and immediately drove to my good friend’s lumber yard and made even more stops after that.
Good thing. A few days later, Tampa-bound Hurricane Charley suddenly intensified to Cat 4, made a hard right turn in the Gulf, and slammed into Punta Gorda and Lee County on August 13th, 2004. It was devastating to many in its path.
Thank you for preparing us and keeping us, Lord! We were so grateful.
But not everybody was spared by the heavy impact. And that brings up more questions, doesn’t it? Not just: “Did Tampa folks pray harder than Ft. Myers folks?” Or “Were we hit because we are more sinful down here than they are up there? (The answer to both is “Of course not!”) Let’s go ahead and tackle the harder ones. Sharper ones. Grieving ones.
What about those who didn’t or couldn’t prepare for that hurricane, or the 911 attacks, or that midnight flood in the Texas hill country where I’m from? Where was God for those who were maimed or lost their lives? Especially the innocent little girls?? Why didn’t He keep them and so many others through the disaster, trauma, and even death???
Now, let’s be careful here. The deeper hurricane truths I am about to share are most certainly NOT for the immediate aftermath or maybe even the early months or years for those grieving, traumatized, and recovering from the tragic impacts of such things. Rather, they are for the season of painful spiritual therapy that most often follows a season of painful physical therapy. Healing, all kinds of healing, takes time, assuming you are doing and thinking the right things.
So, here is truth number 3. Our grief from trauma stays too strong when our thoughts of God become too small. Or angry. Or bitter. Such as:
“God abandoned me that day.”
“God did not protect us like He said.”
“God didn’t care.”
“God wasn’t fair.”
“God was not there.”
Actually, He was there. He is always there. And He always cares. Plus, His works are way beyond “fair.” They are about grace. Abundant grace. Amazing grace. And all of that is truth number 4.
God has and freely shares all kinds of grace. We just need eyes to see it and hearts to receive it. His . . .
Grace of provision in all kinds of need.
Grace of comfort in all types of grief.
Grace of courage in lengthy recovery.
Grace of crying with the truest of friends.
Grace of peace in the darkest of nights.
Grace of trust when hope starts to fade.
Grace of death when our time has come.
Whether by flood, wind, fire, crashes, attacks, illness and more, even death is indeed a grace from God for those who know, love, and trust Him. For believers, death is a door, not a grave. A beginning, not an end. A transformation, not a termination, my friends. And Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Big views of a very big God, and a comforting God.
Even as believers, we will never know when our – or their– time is done. But when it is, Jesus is there to swoop us up and take us to a place He’s prepared just for us—or for them, our loved ones, or those innocent ones we see in the news.
He is also there to swoop us up and nurture us through all the wounds, pain, suffering and despair we will face in this brutal and still beautiful world of ours.
Yes, it is a both/and world. Joy and sorrow. Healing and suffering. Beauty and destruction. Love and war. Ecstasy and agony. How do get our heads around that? How do we deal with such discordant combinations? Mixed emotions? Fluctuating forecasts? Unpredictable hurricanes, literally and metaphorically? Well, we can’t.
That’s why we have a Savior.
That’s why we need a Savior.
And that’s why we need to listen for His whispers to “Come to me,” especially when we need to hear His hurricane truths.
Still learning from Him with you,
Pastor Mark
