Hurricanes

We all have things we struggle with. I'm not talking about addictions or temptations, but rather those things in life which just don't make sense and cause undue hurt. The easy answer is that we live in a sinful world. But, that's a lame excuse for what sometimes happens, or should I say all too often happens even in the Body of Christ. We blame the devil or sin or even use God as a protective cover. It's like taking the reality of what happened with Hurricane Katrina a few years ago and saying "it happened because of this or that." On a certain level, that may be very important, but the reality is, you have to do the clean-up for people's lives to be restored and for them to be able to live properly.

So, I struggle with the hurricanes in life. I've definitely been the cause of some hurricanes, or at least added my wind to the storm. Just as Jesus did with the storm on the sea, you DO something about it. His action brought peace to the storm and peace to the friends' lives involved in the storm and it built them up and strengthened their faith in Him. I believe we are called, in this dance called life, to do just that within our limited human abilities, taking the authority of Christ in us as believers to speak peace and restore people while building them up and pointing them to Jesus.

I've also endured some hurricanes. Some have brought damage and there's been little or no attempt to bring peace, restoration or encouragement. Other hurricanes have blown me away, in a good way as the selflessness of others has ushered in peace and encouragment, just like Jesus did.

One thing I do know from my hurricane experiences is that I grow wiser and stronger.