Dancing in a Hurricane

For three days the wind and rain from the hurricane has swirled around us. The photo is of my yard this early morning. That light is a beacon of hope to me. I will be able to make coffee as the power is still on!  Yesterday, we lost internet, but shockingly, workers arrived at our house and restored it! Our power flickered out once, but then flickered back on, and thus far remains on. I had filled the bathtubs with water, just in case. Just in case of WHAT, I wasn’t sure. However, they quickly drained anyway so I hope that was God’s way of saying that particular precaution was unnecessary.

For the Charlotte region, the worst effects of the storm are predicted to occur today and tomorrow. Because the storm swung South, we are on the most dangerous NE side of the whole mess where the most flooding rains and tornados are. So I am focusing on verses like these:

Luke 8:23-25 

And as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

This is a literal storm we are enduring, but there are many metaphorical storms in life. In the midst of this hurricane, I have counseled two women who chose life over abortion and one who left the abortion industry. In every case, as in my own heart facing the hurricane and facing the struggles and storms of existing, I had the same answer.  Jesus.

The hurricane may end up being devastating to this region. I know already lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed, and thousands are without power. The power of the storm that none of us can stop or control reminds me of the inescapable truth that we are NOT in charge. Why would we not submit to the ONE who Is???

I can no more control the evil of the world than I can divert the path of the hurricane. But I CAN control the evil in my heart when I give my life to Jesus and submit to His will and His plan. He warns us that in this world we will have troubles, but take heart, for He has overcome the world. This world will pass away. A new heaven and a new earth await all those who have ceded their lives to the author of their lives.

Yesterday, I attended a wedding. I am so glad they didn’t postpone the wedding because of the hurricane. Two of our Cities4life counselors went first to the rain-pelted sidewalks of the abortion center, spoke for the unborn in the raging storm, and then came soggy and joyful to the wedding. One woman had chosen life for her baby! The bride herself is a Cities4Life counselor. The groom told me before the wedding that he hoped to rearrange his work schedule such that he could join his new wife on the sidewalks of the abortion center. Music to my ears, louder than the hurricane’s roar!

The wedding was a joyous event and the pastor who officiated reminded us that this wedding was a reminder of the wedding of the lamb, spoken of in Revelation:

Revelation 19:6-9 

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

It was a glorious reminder as the hurricane pelted rain on the church that we, the church, are the Bride of Jesus. We are to enter into an eternal covenant relationship with almighty God and nothing will separate us from His love. And then we all gathered at the reception and danced. I love that image that remains in my head, dancing in the midst of a hurricane.

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