Storms

As we await the arrival of Edouard here on the Texas Gulf Coast, we've made a few preparations at the Rasco home.

We had to first do some clean-up from the storm yesterday that caught us by surprise. Our front and back yards looked like the squirrels had been involved in major pine cone warfare! Limbs were tossed in our flower beds and all over the lawns. The most significant thing though was the upside-down swing set! A gust of wind lifted the tent covering Emma Leigh's sandbox and tossed it into the swing set, knocking in down! It was quite a scary sight as I watched it!

So we started the day today cleaning up, and then we moved to a "batten down the hatches" mode. I guess seeing the great power of the wind yesterday, made us a little more concerned about the looming storm. We put away the bird feeders and wind chimes so they don't become flying missiles. I put all my potted plants in a corner on the back porch, and we've taken apart the tent that now has many bent poles and tears from yesterday's storms.

Tonight though I've been thinking about the storms in our lives. They turn our lives upside-down. They bend us and tear us. And most of all, they catch us off-guard! Why is it that we prepare for storms like Edouard but not the storms in our lives? Why don't we see them coming?

The Bible is full of promises we love to cling to, but have we forgotten the promise in John 16:33? "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Jesus said we will have trouble. But we should take heart because He has overcome! He is bigger than our problems; bigger than tree limbs in my yard; bigger than an upside-down swing set; and certainly bigger than those worries that are flooding my mind right now!

Why not begin preparing for life's storms? How? Delighting! Lord, once again, help me to delight myself in You.