- Jeremiah 19:11 (NLT)
Anyone who has suffered through a disastrous storm with loss of property, even injury or death of a loved one knows how devastating it can be to the human spirit. One day things are normal and then, in a matter of seconds, hours or days things are torn asunder. Facing such circumstances, it's very easy to lose hope for the future. In a troubled and very mixed up world, loss of hope makes it hard to stay the course of life. Sometimes it's hard enough when things are going well.
This week in my blogs I've been focusing on bad weather events and tragedy, one just happening and the other generations ago. In the case of the recent one, it was just a week ago when the small town of Beauregard, Alabama was numbed by the suddenness and fury of a tornado. Large numbers of homes were destroyed or seriously damaged instantly, and twenty-three people died, including several small, helpless children in this extremely violent and powerful storm. It was a higher death toll from a tornado than the entire casualty count in the United States for all of 2018. In the other situation which was in 1962, millions of people from the Carolinas to New England suffered the consequences of a major sea event that pummeled the coast for nearly three days with unrelenting winds, rain and flooding and blizzard conditions inland. It was a storm of the century and all of those who were in it first hand will never forget the impact it had on their lives.
So, disaster that isn't understood in terms of the why and the ferociousness it delivers can cause a loss of hope and without hope for the future we become jellyfish in the world, unable to cope and live on with the determination we must have to improve and maintain our plans and our future in life. And it's at times like these when faith comes to the forefront if we want to survive, for faith in the living God and the willingness to let Him control our lives through the guidance of the Holy Spirit within us is the only way to be able to cope. Read again the verse from the Book of Jeremiah and take it to heart. God has great plans for all of us, plans that will make life wonderful and bright and will ultimately bring salvation if we follow through. Turn your life over to God and let the Son shine on you. God bless.