Through the Storm

Psalm 29

Hawaii has been experiencing high winds the last few days. The sustained wind speeds were upwards of 30-35 mph with gusts sometimes exceeding 55 mph. We've also been experiencing non-stop rain. At times the rain was nothing more than a light drizzle and at other times it was a heavy down pour. Mixed with the wind and the rain was a cold  feel in the air (for Hawaii). Suffice it to say we all wore jackets, carried umbrellas, and stayed indoors as much as possible.

With this kind of weather it's common to see roofs blown off homes and trees become uprooted. As we drove between here and there, my wife and I saw many tree branches on the side of the road and we spoke with reverence about the power of nature. Both of us were witness to two hurricanes in our lifetime and remember how devastated the communities who were hardest hit were.

What we also remembered was how the people within those communities pulled together to help one another. Those with homes still standing invited their neighbor to sleep with them. People cooked on a gas grill while neighbors brought other food to share. Space in large ice coolers was made for the essentials of others. Anyone who needed the help found it among those around them.

Such is the true power of our God. When we witness the storms around us sometimes we forget to look past the devastation and destruction. Sometimes we think those storms have destroyed all that is important to us. Nothing can be further from the truth because we still have each other.

In this new year we are being asked to recognize that change is an inevitable and necessary thing. Whether we like it or not, the change we go through may be similar to that of a tree whose roots have been pulled from the ground because of a wet and windy storm. Please know that you never go through the storm alone. There will always be people around you willing to help and there will always be a God who offers you comfort in your times of deepest distress. 

In God and those around us we find the umbrellas and jackets we need to keep ourselves warm and dry from the storm.