Many, many prayers have gone up for us, and by us, over the past few days, and we're very thankful and appreciative and feeling very, very blessed this morning.
Irma could still shift today, I suppose, but probably not. And there's still a storm surge threat to ride out throughout the day, but we're not anticipating anything coming from it where we are. (We're also, as luck would have it, in a period of King Tides, which are unusually high tides that hit about once or twice a year, so that's added to the uncertainty a bit.)
For those who know me, you know I don't get stressed out all that often. But this storm stressed me to the max. My wife and mother were even surprised.
My emotions have run the gammet.
1) We knew what we were getting into. We understand a long time ago that moving to the place of our dreams brought with it the risk of storms like this. But we also reasoned -- fairly, I think -- that living in the Midwest our whole lives brought with it the risk of tornadoes (and floods!) and such, most of which you usually couldn't see coming. So we believed it to be a fair trade off. Even now, we still do.
2) Having just dealt with our house flooding in Indiana two years ago, and the subsequent upheaval in our lives it caused for the following two years, moving to South Carolina was not just the culmination of a dream, it was also the relaxing closure of a chapter of our lives we were ready to put behind us. To put it bluntly, we were just very tired and worn out after the past couple years, and were finally able to just relax. It was that relaxation I was hoping to enjoy for a while. For eight months, we really had, and while I was fully aware we would someday have to stare down a hurricane, I just wasn't ready for it to be this quickly. I cannot begin to tell you how much we were really just digging the vibe of our new home, and I'd hoped this monkey wrench would stay on the shelf for at least a few years. Shows you what I know.
3) I now live in the nicest, prettiest, cleanest, biggest home in which I've ever lived in my life. It's brand new and we love it. We've loved showing it off to our family and friends. Vanity will get you nowhere, I know, but I have no shame in telling you how proud we are of our new house. And while I have insurance, I am in no hurry to have it blown over by a hurricane. And after the aforementioned flood, during which we lost a great deal of our possessions -- including some things we can never replace -- we've spent the last two years reacquiring household items and furnishings, and since we've been here, we've had a great time redecorating, and basically just starting over fresh and new and making our home -- maybe really for the very first time -- truly our own. And we love it all. I did not want to lose any of it to a hurricane, really, ever, but certainly not this quickly.
4) Speaking of insurance, I still had a few things to tidy up. We have what was required, and needed for the area, and are covered for any major loss (except a flood, ironically) but we were not in as good of shape as I could have been. We needed a few things to resolve to get everything tidied up. That hasn't happened yet, but will soon. Dodging this bullet is a big relief for me, as I will be in much better position when the next one hits.
But here's the real kicker, and it's what I struggled with during the flood back in Indiana, and what I'm struggling with now. I know no matter how bad we might have it, others will have it worse. Even now, I know the storm basically missing us means it's hitting others elsewhere. I'm so thankful it has weakened so quickly and dramatically just in the last 24 hours, because that means so many others have been spared too. But that doesn't change the fact that many people's lives have been destroyed in this storm. Just as we were afraid ours could be. Many millions of people didn't dodge the storm. My gain was someone else's loss.
I know, I know. We can't think that way. That's the way life is, that's the way the cookie crumbles, yadda, yadda, yadda. Two years ago, my house flooded, and I lost a lot of stuff. Most Mooresville residents didn't flood. They had it better than me. Other's flooded worse than we did, and took a far greater hit than we did. They had it worse.
I see the pictures and videos from Hurricane Harvey and my heart breaks. I know floods, but my flood was up and gone in 3 hours. It flooded no more than 4 feet of my home. Some of those people's houses were completely submerged for more than a week! I cannot fathom.
What does this all mean? Well, first, let me be clear about something: One prevailing thought in all this resides around Global Warming. I'm not going there here, because I don't believe Global Warming has anything to do with any of this. It never has, and never will. I am a man of faith. Fail though I may, I still believe God is bigger than any storm, and certainly bigger than stupid plastic water bottles.
For those who say God has a plan for everything, and that this whole hurricane business is somehow just a part of God's big plan, you're wrong. You're just plain wrong. The idea that God somehow just randomly decides what to destroy and who dies and lives, and "I'm just gonna blow away this state today for no reason," is not Biblically correct in any way.
Here's what IS Biblically correct: That Satan comes to steal, and kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) That "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (I Peter 5:8)
You see, every time disasters like this happen, we're always quick to blame God. Christians are especially bad about it. "Well, it's just part of God's plan." "God has a reason for everything." That's hogwash. The Bible doesn't teach that God just wanders around randomly killing off people, or whole neighborhoods, or whole states, or whole countries. Not anymore. The New Testament teaches that we are now waiting for Jesus to return for the final judgment and the final defeat of the devil. The days of God destroying the world with a natural disaster are over. (And that's why HE owns the rainbow!)
I know what you mean when you say, "Well, God just called old Uncle Jim home today." I know that makes you feel better, but what you are really saying is, "God decided to kill off Uncle Jim today." And that isn't true, and it certainly isn't Biblical.
What IS true is that God holds the keys to death and life, but as it relates to our final determination for eternity. If we choose to follow him here on Earth, we get eternal life. If we don't, we get eternal damnation. It really is that simple, and it will ultimately be God's choice, not anybody else's. He will be the final judge.
But as it relates to our time here on Earth, because of sin, we live in an imperfect world. (It's why God created a Heaven.) Because of sin, we are in a battle with Satan every day. Satan knows his final judgment, and he wants to take as many people with him as he can. The Bible teaches us that it is the DEVIL who steals and kills and destroys. You wanna believe GOD sent a hurricane? Why? Why is it so tough to believe that it was Satan instead?
Our broken world is a result of our sin. And we are in a war every day with the Master of Sin! Ephesians 6:12 tells us, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
In wars, people get bloodied and injured, and yes, even sometimes die. Occasionally we win a battle in the war. Sometimes we lose. And I don't want to go into a big, theological, doctrinal debate about how we can, through our sin, sometimes remove ourselves from the protection of the Lord, or even why God will sometimes choose to spare some and not others. Those decisions are up to God, according to His plans and purposes. I will say confidently that God did indeed choose to save some in this storm, for specific purposes, and maybe not others, and yet at the same time tell you that I can't even begin to completely understand why. That debate is for another time and place, and probably won't be resolved anyway until we meet Jesus again.
But I can say without equivocation that God didn't send this hurricane. The devil did. Satan came to kill and steal and destroy. It's that simple. He does it all the time, and tries over and over again, and the best I can do is to put my trust in the Lord, do my best to cover myself in his love and grace and mercy and protection, enjoy his wonderful creations and blessings as long as I can, and know that whenever the devil does end up taking me out, whether it be from a big ole storm, or just old age, I'm going to spend the rest of eternity in Heaven with Jesus, where Satan can't hurt me anymore.
And still none of that can completely assuage my guilt in knowing I was spared this time and others weren't. It even makes me feel guilty to pray for my own protection.
Second, what all this means is that I'm lucky, today, and maybe next time I won't be so lucky. The experience of living through one will hopefully make me better prepared the next time, and the next time. Because there will be a next time, that's for sure. All I can do is be as educated as possible, and as prepared as I can be.
Third... I ain't going anywhere! All this does is make me love the beauty of this place more than ever, and make me even more determined to enjoy of moment of it while I can, while I have them! I can't really begin to describe how beautiful and wonderful and nice it has been virtually every day we've here. Seeing the look on my wife's face every time she looks over the May River, or sees a dolphin in the ocean makes any hurricane we could face well worth it. If one comes and blows my house away someday, as long as my wife and family and I are safe, I'll rebuild it and carry on.
Because that's what we do. We carry on. We all do. Today, there are millions who need our help and our prayers. Please, please, please continue to do anything you can do to help ease their pain. Send money if you can. Volunteer if you can. And pray, if you can and are so inclined. Pray that God will save all He can. Pray that funds, and supplies, and volunteers, and resources will be there for those who need to rebuild. Pray that God will ease suffering, and pain, and anxiety, and worry. Pray that people will have peace in knowing that God is in control, even though it might not always seem so, and even though we might lose some to this battle, we'll ultimately win the war with God's helping hand.
That's my prayers. Today, it looks like we were the lucky ones. If we're not the next time, then I would hope those prayers and help will come my way.
I'm thankful. I'm very, very thankful.
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