Storms Aren’t for Always

        As I write, thunder bellows, and a storm rolls closer!

        Everyone who lives here in “tornado alley” knows to beware of shelf clouds. If they send down “tentacles” that begin swirling and dropping toward earth, sirens blare and emergency broadcasters instruct listeners to take cover!

        Actually, this isn’t our first hefty storm experience. There’ve been many.

        The worst hailstorm in our recorded history happened last month. The racket those tennis- and baseball-size hailstones made hitting our roof terrified us. Even elderly folks who’ve always lived here said, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

        Thousands (no exaggeration) of car windshields were damaged! At the airport (about 30 miles from here) an estimated 1,500 cars were damaged. The wait to get those and our roofs repaired is estimated to take at least 2 months.

        The largest city to our west—Joplin, Missouri—just marked its 16^th anniversary of the horrific, killer tornado that destroyed so much of their city.

        I remember our first trip to Joplin after moving here. Brian and I drove along, and I commented, “Wow! What a nice city this is!” I pointed to the left. “Everything over there looks so new!”

        Then it struck me—Brian too. And we fell silent.

        Of course it was new. We couldn’t imagine the scope of damage that tornado left, but it was crystal clear how much ground it covered—not by the sight of destruction but by multitudes of new structures.

        Yet, this was also a sign of Joplin’s resilience. To build again.

         Of course, the greatest loss in storms is human life. Our own pastor lost a brother in one. I can’t imagine.

         Storms come in many forms. Predicted or by surprise. Mediocre in strength or fierce. Causing inconvenient messes or total destruction.                                               

        There will always be storms. But a “good” thing about storms? They aren’t for always. And after many storms? You might just be surprised by rainbows painted in the sky!

        Rainbows assure us the storm has passed. Rainbows can restore hope. Rainbows mark the fact we’ve survived the storm. And they point us to our magnificent Creator Who, by painting the sky, reminds us He keeps His promises and cares. After all, He doesn’t just show up when the storm’s over. He’s been with us through them all—patiently “holding his brush and pallet of colors.”

        Life is filled with storms, and no one escapes them. That’s part of living in a fallen world. Okay. We don’t call those tornadoes, hail, flood, or anything like that. Instead, we call them broken relationships, death of a loved one, losing all one owns in a fire…and any other catastrophe that hits.

        Storms cause damage. They hurt. They also leave marks that they were there.

        But remember. Storms aren’t for always. There are rainbows too, helping us look forward. To regroup. To recover. To begin again if all vanished in the storm.

        This isn’t my idea. Let me walk back with you to one of the oldest accounts in the Bible.

        Job, a righteous man who loved Hashem (God) with all his heart and soul, faced tragedy after tragedy—one after the other.

        The enemy was sure Job would turn away from God after all he endured, but—as always—the devil was wrong.

        God knew otherwise and allowed the devil to bombard Job. You see, Job’s faith and love of his Redeemer was firm in the good times—so it would hold true no matter what, and God knew Job would pass the test even after being hit by “storms”—afflictions. And he also lost all his children in a literal storm! (If you’ve not read the account of Job, you might want to do that. It will help you face hardships you think you cannot possibly endure.)

        Oh, there was a conversation where Job lamented his suffering to God, but he never turned away from Hashem.

        And after Job’s “storms?” God restored all his losses x two! Job’s “rainbow life”*—after which he proclaimed, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.” –Job 1:21b

        Reader, if you’ve been through storms and are now on the rainbow side, you’re very much aware the memories of those storms—the damage and devastation you suffered—marked you, just like real storms. Severe ones do that. They change us, just like destructive weather alters our world.

        I hope and pray you’ll weather your storms, grasp the promised hope given by the Creator of rainbows, and know there’s always a way to begin again.

        You’ll always remember those storms but can also share with others how God brought you through them—because now you’re on the telling side because…

        …storms aren’t for always.

Till the Storm Passes By sung by a gathering at the Collingsworth home—

Thanksgiving 2024--"Til The Storm Passes By" (much larger group than first time)

(from the hymn, Till the Storm Passes By, by Mosie Lister, 1958)

        A day will arrive when there’ll be no more storms of any kind! And where will that happen? In Heaven. And when will it take place? When Jesus comes to take His children Home…

        …and Home is for always!

#storms #hail #tornado #flood #rainbows #neveralone #hope #promise #Job #Heaven

*a new beginning/starting again…“representing hope, healing, and joy after a period of grief and trauma.” –bing

Photo Credit: shelf cloud—iStock, balls & hail—from hometown citizen, posted on Facebook, rainbow—Pexels, Job—shutterstock.com.