Articles
Storms
Probably you have already seen the picture of "our" tornado last night. Fortunately, and I'm convinced in answer to many prayers, no one was injured or killed locally.
Tornadoes can't be positively predicted. Experts have gotten pretty good at knowing what can materialize that could produce such, and we do have some warning in that respect, but we never know exactly when or how big or exactly where do we?
Storms in life are the same way. Often times we see what is aligning and we know those situations can lead to bad things, and we make some changes to lessen the potential if not eliminate the danger all together. But we don't always! Sometimes, we see the signs, we understand the dangers, and yet we stand there so to speak, and let the storm overtake us. Why? Maybe when it comes to health issues, and certainly there are other instances where we may have no control at all, our hands may be tied sometimes. But when we do have some ability to influence the outcome, or when we can alter things to avoid the worst of the situation, why do we often fail to act?
You can apply that to parenting, teaching, self control, and many other areas of our lives. We often see young people shy on experience make these mistakes, but we also see the older and complacent, or the lazy with similar results. We also see those who simply choose poorly, leaning toward the wisdom of the world, vs the way of the LORD, and the list of potential causes goes on and on. If you are a Christian today I suspect you, like me, try and head off potential trouble in every way possible, starting with prayer. Hopefully we never forget we have a helper, who stands ready to help with every storm of life, and that we need His help. We are never forced to face anything in life without the ability to enlist God's help. God can direct us away from trouble, He can keep us out of the path of worst destruction, or if damage is inevitable, He can certainly help us endure and re-build. Often times, He allows us some damage, because it makes us better in the long run, and while we prefer to avoid the storm, we should actually learn to give thanks for it.
This time of year, we raise our awareness to storms of nature, the way they pop up out of nowhere almost, and can be quiet destructive. Let us live our lives daily with the same awareness of storms, trials, troubles and dangers that can affect our lives in spiritual ways. Let us learn how to read the signs better, predict the possibilities and understand the potentials so that we can avoid as many of them as we possibly can.
