Hurricane thought

Daniel 3:15 (ESV)

Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

Unlike most natural disasters, hurricanes you can see coming long in advance.  Days before a hurricane hits land, coastal residents still begin to talk about precautions, just in case it hit’s their community.  “Should we get some extra jugs of water and some extra batteries?”   As the weather forecasters narrow the prediction to a smaller area, there’s more talk.  “Should we board up the windows or move things inside the house?”  Finally the discussion turns to evacuation. “Maybe we should go to your mom’s for a few days.”  But hurricanes are unpredictable.  The hurricane might land somewhere unexpected or it could putters out in the cold waters of the Atlantic.  So here you are at a friends house miles away from home, after spending hundreds of dollars on supplies to board up your house and the hurricane didn’t show up.  Are you beginning to think “Maybe that hurricane wasn’t such a big deal after all?”  How do you know if you didn’t see it?

The Bible tells us of three young men that were waiting for a powerful force to come into their lives.  Three young Jewish men were ordered to die by the Babylonian King because they would not bow down and pray to his gods.  Daniel 3:15 tells us the King ordered the men to be thrown into a fiery furnace saying “What God will be able to rescue you from my hands?”  These were good Jewish boys that knew God rescued the Israelites from Egypt and David from Goliath.  But if it’d been me, I might begin to wonder if God was really able to rescue me.  It’s like wondering if a hurricane that didn’t show up was really that powerful all along.

But these three young men had deep and profound faiths.  The young men say “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it… but even if He does not… we will not serve your gods.”  Their faith in the Lord did not rely on Him rescuing them, even if rescue was the desire of their hearts.   Does your faith depend on God’s rescue?

At times it feels that things like grief, cancer, barrenness, addiction, or past traumas are taunting us like the king taunted the young men “What God will be able to rescue you from my hands?”  I will tell you what God- the Lord God Almighty who is a mighty rescuer.  He sent His Son to rescue you by dying on the cross conquering not only sin but death.   Think of that.  There is nothing, not even death that will keep you from the loving arms of Jesus.

If you are living today in a fiery furnace remember this: God is more than able to rescue you from your suffering but even if He does not, you are still victorious in Jesus.  All believers are victorious through the cross.  Victory is already won!

Dear Lord, we pray for safety in front of the storms of live. Help us to completely trust You in each step along the way. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Standing on the truth

John 8:44 (ESV)

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

It was Sunday, August 23, 2009. A fierce Hurricane, Hurricane Bill, pounded the coast of Mount Desert Island, in the state of Maine. Despite the inclement conditions, tourists came in droves to hear the resounding BOOMS that reverberated from Thunder Hole.

Thunder Cove is a small cove, naturally carved out of rock. At the end of this cove, down at the low tide mark, a small cavern can be found. When waves rush it, the air and water in the cavern are forced out with a loud BOOM, sounding much like the peal of distant thunder. Given the correct weather conditions, the water can spout up from the cavern, sometimes reaching a height of 40 feet.

And Hurricane Bill brought together just the correct conditions for the loudest booms and the highest spouts of water.

Warning signs were posted everywhere, counseling tourists to stay away from Thunder Hole in these conditions. Not everyone was inclined to listen to these warnings however, and many tourists could be found at the lower end of the lookout where you could best see and hear the water clapping through the cavern. And with so many people already down there, it only encouraged more tourists to ignore the warnings. After all, how could all of those people be wrong?

That is what a certain father with his two girls thought. Until he and his two girls were swept over the rail, that is, out into the stormy Atlantic Ocean.

In the icy water, the father and the girls battled for their lives. They were eventually rescued by the courageous Coast Guard, however the seven-year old later died from the trauma.

If only they hadn't followed the crowd! 

Satan is one whose specializes in lies. He carves his lies so cleverly around half-truths that many fall prey to his insinuations. Sadly, most of the world believes his lies rather than the One who is called "the truth"!

We cannot, flirt with lies of the devil without being contaminated by them. It will change our perspective on life, and it will lead us to live a life grounded on untruth.  If we do not stand by the truth, we will find ourselves easily swept in the churning ocean! The apostles warned us about these liars:

We either stand on the truth, or we let ourselves be swept away by deception.

Dear Lord, help us stand in the truth. Help us to daily dive into Your word so that we may know the truth. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Are You Following the Crowd?

John 10:10 (NIV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

It was Sunday, August 23, 2009. A fierce Hurricane, Hurricane Bill, pounded the coast of Mount Desert Island, in the state of Maine. Despite the inclement conditions, tourists came in droves to hear the resounding BOOMS that reverberated from Thunder Hole.

Thunder Cove is a small cove, naturally carved out of rock. At the end of this cove, down at the low tide mark, a small cavern can be found. When waves rush it, the air and water in the cavern are forced out with a loud BOOM, sounding much like the peal of distant thunder. Given the correct weather conditions, the water can spout up from the cavern, sometimes reaching a height of 40 feet.

And Hurricane Bill brought together just the correct conditions for the loudest booms and the highest spouts of water.

Warning signs were posted everywhere, counseling tourists to stay away from Thunder Hole in these conditions. Not everyone was inclined to listen to these warnings however, and many tourists could be found at the lower end of the lookout where you could best see and hear the water clapping through the cavern. And with so many people already down there, it only encouraged more tourists to ignore the warnings. After all, how could all of those people be wrong?

That is what a certain father with his two girls thought. Until he and his two girls were swept over the rail, that is, out into the stormy Atlantic Ocean.

In the icy water, the father and the girls battled for their lives. They were eventually rescued by the courageous Coast Guard, however the seven-year old later died from the trauma.

If only they hadn't followed the crowd!

There is one whose specializes in lies. He carves his lies so cleverly around half-truths that many fall prey to his insinuations. Sadly, most of the world believes his lies rather than the One who is called "the truth"!

We cannot flirt with lies without being contaminated by them. It will change our perspective on life, and it will lead us to live a life grounded on untruth.

We either stand on the truth, or we let ourselves be swept away by deception.

Dear Lord, help us stand firm on the truth and not be swept away by the lies of the world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne and God's Protection

Psalm 46:2-3 (New International Version)

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.






“Good morning everyone." Began the TV announcer. "Let me correct that. There is nothing "good" about this morning of September 26, 2004."


He was right. That was the day we encountered, once again, an unwelcome visit from another member of the destructive and malicious gang: Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. They engaged in a vicious game of outdoing each other in merciless destruction that dreadful summer.


At first, the action outside was not much different than the usual storms in Florida. But we knew this was no ordinary storm. It was a preamble of a destructive hurricane named Charley.


As we all hunkered down in the safest place in the house Charley slowly moved our direction.


As we sat there I made a mental note of the supplies we would need: flashlights, water and our cell phones. Grabbing the small transistor radio with fresh batteries we sat around on the floor and played some board games.


As expected, the lights went out. The TV was silenced. In the dark, the rage of the hurricane became more audible. The wind howled and whistled as if to announce, “I’ve arrived.” Its ominous nature intensified our vulnerability.


Charley had a vicious and unique personality. It was capricious. First giving the impression it was headed in one direction and at the last minute changing directions, it had its own raging madness as it ripped through neighborhoods merciless.ly.


As we sat there we turned the volume up on the radio as we got updates from the Z 88.3.


Our family huddled attempting to tune out the loud roaring outside. We hung on each word coming from the only device connecting us to the outside world. “It’s headed for Orlando; the winds here are unbelievable. With the last moments of daylight, we can see the roaring winds snapping trees in half like pretzel sticks. In other areas, it’s been reported that trees have been yanked with force, their roots entangled in blocks of cement tossed aside like toys


More reports followed: “Now the road is in total darkness. Traffic lights are gone, with those remaining not working,” announced another brave reporter standing outside to give us the detailed recount of Charley's fury.


Without air-conditioning, our cozy area turned into a small oven. But safety tossed out comfort as Charley’s rage grew closer. The strong winds thrust sporadic bangs, rattling our garage door. We knew it would strike, but didn’t know exactly when, nor did we know which window would burst or what part of the roof would yank away first.


As we sat in the heat and the dark I “My hope is in the Lord. He will protect us. The thought came to me “Do you think this hurricane is catching Him by surprise? Of course not, He is always faithful.”


Charley’s furious winds struck with more intensity in some areas, yanking off roofs like box tops. The roaring winds hurled traffic lights, smashing them to the ground. Some fatalities were reported.


As we listened to the “Z” they said “The tracking shows Charley is now in Orlando’s downtown area.”


We finally heard the news that Charley had moved north; it finally passed us. And although fatigued with anxiety, we breathed a sigh of relief.


As we look back at the summer of 2004 and the way God protected us we learned when storms rattle the doors of our heart, His grace is still at work, His truth still prevails and His hand is active. And even when those emotional hurricanes file through, God’s protection silences the winds of fear.






Dear Lord we thank you for the protection you granted back in 2004, and now we pray as we enter as new hurricane season that you would protect each and every one of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.