🌪️Storms🌫️

Don’t get caught up in the middle of the storm for the sun will shine again.

Storms will come into all our lives, some will be small but others will be monsters we will never forget. Many will involve us personally and others will touch our lives in many other ways.  Don’t be surprised when the storms come for they are coming to us all there is no escaping them. It was Terrible Tuesday, 10 April 1979 an eight year old boy out of school on Easter break said “a day I’ll never forget.” He tells how he felt and the fears he experienced and the protection from God of how God took care of him and his family. If you have never heard of Terrible Tuesday it would be worth your time to read about how cities and those involved recover from a 400 million dollar disaster of that day. 

There may not have been a terrible Tuesday in your life. It may have been a terrible Thursday or a tribble Saturday. Regardless of what day of the week it was, it was a terrible moment in your life. It may not have been a 400 million dollar moment but it was a moment that no price could have been put on it. It was a regular day my uncle was on his way home from work; just like the day before and the day before that and so on. He stops and gets some gas in a gas container, maybe he was going to cut grass when he got home; we’ll never know. A young lady was on her way home too. She must have been tired because he went to sleep and crossed over into the oncoming traffic. Her vehicle hit my uncle's small truck and pushed it into the bank and trapped him inside the truck. That was bad enough but the impact caused the gas container to explode and now the truck was on fire. My uncle now on fire himself somehow turned himself around and kicked the back window out. He gets out running down the highway on fire. A man saw what was happening, stopped, grabbed a blanket and ran to him wrapping the blanket around him putting out the fire. We are grateful for this man's fast thinking but the fire had already burned 80% of his body. It was awful and if that was not bad enough he was rushed to a local hospital that couldn’t do much. The call went out to a trauma hospital which said they had no room for him. A helicopter was sent to pick him up, he was loaded in and strapped in and off the Augusta they were headed. As they lifted off the helicopter hit something and it crashed killing everyone onboard except my uncle. Now the trauma hospital in Atlanta had to take him room or not. My uncle lasted maybe four days and then he died. It was awful and my uncle was burnt everywhere from just above his angles up. They said 80% but when I saw him the next day I would say 90%.  Let me say I hope you never have to see anything like that. Can anyone put a price on that? No, that is something that money can’t fix and sure can’t buy. 

It was dark and the storm was in full rage when out on the water it appeared to be a man walking on the water in the storm. Peter said “it’s the Lord.” So he called out and said “Lord if that be you let me come out. Matthew 14:28 (KJV) And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

The Lord said come. So Peter climbed out of the ship and out on the water he began to walk. Think with me for a moment. Peter had more courage than anyone else because no one else even asked let alone followed him. Peter started walking on the water. I don’t know what he was thinking and even if he turned around and said anything to other disciples or not. I think I might have; maybe something like you bunch of chickens it’s the Lord I’m safe.” He was until he looked and realized that a monstrous storm was going on. At that point he must have thought something like what in the world am I doing! Then Peter’s trust in the Lord went to trust in Peter and the day that was safe now has become a terrible day. It’s easy to say if I were Peter I would have acted differently; would you? Too many trust the Lord to take them to heaven after they die but have trouble trusting Him in everyday life; me included. When terrible times hit, who do we put our real trust in?  In the storm Peter got to looking around and that caused his demise. This storm was so powerful and frightful that Peter never refocused on the Lord. In all this excitement the Lord never lost sight of Peter and He wasn’t about to let him drown. 

Matthew 14:31 (KJV) And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Why do we do the same thing? The Storm!