large storm

We are in the early stages of a very large storm...Hurricane Sandy. Tropical force winds radiate out nearly 500 miles from the center of this dynamo. It is a southern storm...a tropical hurricane...that is becoming a northern storm, a giant nor'easter fed by the jet stream and cold air out of Canada. Experts are saying that is something like the "perfect storm" of 1991, but it's hard to think of something so destructive as perfect in any sense. When a storm comes, people prepare by laying up extra food, water, and batteries and tie down anything that can become a wind borne missile. This storm is dramatically visible from satellite pictures as a huge cloud turbine, spinning like some giant pinwheel. We cannot change the path of the storm, or the intensity of the storm. We can only prepare for the storm and weather its impact. There is another giant storm that is blowing. It is unlike Hurricane Sandy in that it is raging all the time. This storm seeks to blow down human lives with an internal kind of destructiveness. It is Hurricane Sin and it doesn't feed on water temperatures and air movement. It centers on the perfect storm conditions of the human heart. We carry the potential for destructive force in the seeds of self centeredness, lust, greed and rebellion that lay within. When these tendencies mix with opportunity in the depressed climate of tempation a full blown storm will blow that can tear down lives, marriages and even nations. Unlike Hurricane Sandy, however, there are some actions that can be taken to prevent the storm and to minimize is destructiveness. When we take the center of our being and place it in submission to the Lord who is greater than all storms we gain sensitivity to temptation as an early warning sign and we can execute an attitude shift that will cause the elements of sin's storm to be quieted. There is peace after a hurricane but it can be the agonizing peace of damage control and repair. There can be peace from our personal hurricanes when we are delivered from the destructive winds of anger, pride and self centeredness as we center on the One who brings peace within from every storm.

Psalm 107:²⁸ "Lord, help!" they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
²⁹ He calmed the storm to a whisper
and stilled the waves.
³⁰ What a blessing was that stillness
as he brought them safely into harbor!

blessings,

Rob Smith