A friend of mine recently wrote about some “sage advice” she received from her young daughter about how sometimes ignoring a problem makes it go away. My friend likened this to our enemy, the devil. She said that while this is true, sometimes we must engage in spiritual warfare, which is prayer and God’s word. The morning I read this was timely, but I felt like I needed to do both. This caused me to ponder times I have ignored potential problems and the wisdom (or lack of it) involved. (check out my friend Shyann’s devotion here)
Back in New York as a young adult who enjoyed a good party, nothing would put a damper on it. Even when warnings of an impending hurricane came, my friends and I would gather and loudly chant “H-U-R-R-I-C-A-N-E / P-A-R-T-E-E-E!” Instead of taking precautions, we would rush out and buy beer and snacks, and hunker down for a night of fun with celebratory revelry, “ignoring the drama of the warnings’. Usually by the time the storm reached Long Island, it was nothing more than heavy rain and more wind than we were accustomed to. All the fuss and hype didn’t amount to much other than a few flooded streets and some downed branches left in its wake. Since we anticipated that, it seemed like a good reason to party. But back then, lots of things seemed like good reasons to party. Oh how foolish I was when I was young and carefree.
A Memorable Storm
By the time I moved to Florida and experienced my first “real” hurricane, I learned a thing or two. I was settled by then and my partying days were behind me. It was a good thing too, because this storm had threatened to be the real deal. In fact ,it was on course to be a direct hit to Hollywood, Florida as a CAT-3 storm. That was where I lived. I’m referring to Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
My husband and I had battened down the hatches, bought as much wood as we could find to cover the windows and put big “X”s of masking tape across the ones not covered by wood. (Ha-Ha, we know better now.) The biggest problem we foresaw was that we had just done a major cutting back of all of our trees and the heavy limbs and branches were piled high in our yard. Because it was too late to get rid of them, we tied them to a chain link fence with rope and hoped for the best.
When we finished, we went around the neighborhood trying to help others. (Interestingly, we were not alone in this act of hospitality. It was the birth of the term “neighbors helping neighbors” as one of the local news stations had coined it.) Our next door neighbors decided to host a prayer gathering before bed that evening. As we went knocking on doors to see how we could help, we invited all of our neighbors to join us in praying for safety from the impending hurricane.
But, when the time came for the prayer gathering, no one showed up at our neighbor’s house except my husband and me. The four of us prayed and thanked God for all we had, we asked for His hand of protection over us, then called it a night. It was a night of howling wind and rain like I had never experienced before as the house rattled and shook.
We awoke the next morning to discover the storm had increased to a CAT-5, but the brunt of the storm had changed course away from Hollywood and made a direct hit on Kendall. To my wonder and thanks be to God, we found that everything around our home and my next door neighbor’s home was in place, not a shattered window or a roof tile, a branch or tree limb had blown away. However, there was still great impact from the storm all over south Florida, including the Hollywood area and most definitely on my block. Naturally, the power was out almost everywhere, but mine and my praying neighbor’s was intact. Many houses on the block also had considerable roof damage and big trees had blown out of the ground. God was faithful to supernaturally protect us from the damaging effects of Hurricane Andrew. As God had blessed us, we in turn blessed our neighbors, sharing our refrigeration to keep their food from spoiling until power was restored (many days later).
That was my first “amazing”supernatural experience with the power of prayer, and also the realization that a hurricane is nothing to party over. In fact, one of my co-workers decided to seek shelter elsewhere, leaving Hollywood and going to weather the storm, (and party) with friends in Kendall. Little did they know before bed that evening that the path of that storm would change. Unfortunately for them, they found themselves hovering in a bathtub, desperately trying to hold a mattress over them as the roof completely blew off the house they sought for shelter.
Trust God in Trials and Storms
Friends, what or who are you trusting to shelter you in the storms of life? When my friend wrote about ignoring a problem, she meant not dwelling on it. Instead, let it go, give it to God, trust in Him and pray. I can’t stress enough that we must put our trust in “God alone” to get us through the storms of life.
🎶In Christ the solid rock we stand, all other ground is sinking sand. 🎶To this day, that song resonates in me when trials and storms come.
Our God is Faithful! He will help you overcome in any storm He allows you to go through when you put your faith and trust in Him. I remember that occasion with Hurricane Andrew often when I struggle with life’s circumstances and all sorts of storms that come my way. I believe it was God’s purpose for me to recall this story to proclaim His goodness and his glory for such a time as this.
Sadly, Kendall was devastated from Andrew, as many residents trusted in their flimsily-built homes for shelter. But good has come even from that, as we now have better codes and stronger homes built to withstand the storms. Most of those people have recovered, rebuilt and moved on to new and better things. My prayers go out to those who have not.
I no longer ignore the warnings of an impending hurricane, but I can ignore the drama of trying times. By trusting God (not dwelling on the problem) and focusing on prayer and helping others, my problems always have a way of working out. God is our shelter in the storms of life. He will help you overcome in the storm. His Word and His promises are true and He is Faithful. You can have the peace of Jesus in the midst of the storm.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:4-7
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”— Romans 8:28
Are you called according to God’s purpose? Did you know that He is calling you to His purpose, and He wants none to perish? God desires “all” to come to the knowledge and salvation found in Christ Jesus. (But, He won’t force you, the choice is yours.) Come to Jesus today. For it is written, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13
I hope this blog encourages you. God bless you in Jesus’ name.
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