Preparing for Storms

 

Photo by NOAA 2015

In Florida, hurricane season opened with a bang with the threat of Tropical Storm Elsa, which was upgraded to a hurricane before the winds died down sufficiently so that it was downgraded once again. But in the meantime, our home and businesses lay directly in the projected track of U.S. landfall, where the forecast predicted high winds, incessant rain, flooding, thunderstorms, and possible tornadoes, as well as likely power outages.

So my husband brought in or tied down all outdoor furniture and trash cans, barricaded doors in low-lying areas with sandbags, cleared debris from the parking lot drain, drained excess water from the pool at a rental property, filled up the gas tanks, and lugged a generator from a shed to an overhang near the house, where he got it running so that it could be connected to a freezer.

Meanwhile, I filled any empty spaces in the refrigerator and freezer with water bottles, drinks and bags of ice, and cranked up the dials so that the contents would stay cooler longer if we were without electricity for any length of time. I gathered up the flashlights, batteries, and emergency supplies and strategically placed them around the house where they would be easy to find at night. I filled up the tubs with water and charged our laptops and devices. I even cleaned the house so that it would be ready if my son and his wife, who live nearer to a flood zone, decided to stay with us.

Prayer was the most vital part of our preparation (Psalm 143:1; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6) – for safety for us and for all in Elsa’s path, for protection of our property and businesses against any damage, and for us not to lose power so that we would not have to stop working or to lose perishable food.

Thankfully, Elsa’s track shifted a little and her strength dissipated before making U.S. landfall. God answered our prayers (Psalm 42:8; 66:19-20; Matthew 21:22) for personal safety and for that of our family and loved ones, for protection against any damage, and even for no interruption in power! (Had that last prayer not been answered, I would not be writing and posting this blog post now!)

The following morning, we surveyed the scene and confirmed that all was well, praise the Lord! We then began the long ritual of undoing all we had done the day before – removing the sandbags, taking the lawn furniture outside, and replacing everything to where it was normally stored. Doing and undoing hard work is never pleasant, but we thanked God for answered prayer and that we were doing that instead of having to deal with repairing damage or potentially even worse consequences.

An unexpected blessing (Romans 8:28; Ephesians 3:20) was that we had a freshly cleaned house and lots of steps and minutes of continuous exercise tracked on our activity monitors!

Preparing for the storm reminded me not only of God’s protection (Proverbs 1:33; 3:23) and faithfulness (Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 89:8; Isaiah 25:1; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Peter 4:19), but it also got me thinking about how dependent we are on power to fuel our daily lives. Had the storm struck harder or closer to home, we could have been without light, running water, air conditioning in 90 degree heat and high humidity, refrigeration, flushing toilets, transportation, and Internet or phone communication.

Knowing this, we were highly motivated to do all we could to ensure alternate power sources for these vital needs. But these were a poor substitute for the free-flowing electrical power we normally enjoy, and they would eventually run out.

Praise God, He is the ultimate source of power (2 Samuel 22:33; 2 Chronicles 20:6; 25:8; Job 36:22; Psalm 62:11; 150:1) that never runs out and that created all and fuels all activities in the universe and in Heaven! (Jeremiah 32:17; Romans 1:20). God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). He is the Fountain of Living Water (Song of Solomon 4:15; Jeremiah 2:13; 17:13; John 4:10-11) freely flowing to all who trust in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).

He is our Sustainer (Psalm 3:5; 55:22; Colossians 1:17) Who provides for our every need (Matthew 6:8, 32; Luke 12:30). He is our Comforter (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) Who guides us better than any GPS, teaches us more than we could ever learn online, and gives us the words to speak in prayer (Romans 8:26) even when we are cut off from earthly channels of communicating with others.

Just as we repeatedly face physical storms, we must also contend with spiritual storms, for our battles are not against the earthly realm, but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. But thankfully, we can be strong in God, and in the power of His might. In spiritual warfare, we do not need to barricade our doors with sandbags or board our windows, but we do need to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

When preparing for a hurricane or other danger, it is prudent to prepare (Proverbs 22:3), including putting aside enough water and nonperishable food for our family for at least several days. But God is our ultimate Provider, Who assures us that our physical needs for food, clothing and shelter will be met (Psalm 37:25), provided our first priority is to seek His righteousness (Matthew 6:22-32) through faith in the shed blood and resurrection of His Son (Ephesians 2:5-8).

Even more importantly, He gives us our daily spiritual bread (Matthew 6:11) through His Word, if we take the time to meditate on it daily and to seek His counsel through prayer. He alone can give us the living water that nourishes and replenishes our soul so that we will never thirst! (John 6:35-48)

In today’s developed world, living without power is not only an inconvenience but a potential health hazard and major disruption to our way of life. But we can be so thankful that God’s power is never depleted and is always available to us!

If we experience any sense of ebbing current in our spiritual life, it is not God’s shortcoming but our own. Unconfessed sin (Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9), pride manifest as reliance on our own flesh rather than on His omnipotence (1 John 2:16), rebellion against or unbelief in His Word (Hebrews 3:12), or a husband failing to honor his wife (1 Peter 3:7) can all block His light from shining through us and interrupt His power from flowing through us to bless us and those around us.

But if we find our fellowship with God broken because of these sins, all we need do is repent and take the first step back toward Him, for like the Father of the prodigal son, He is waiting to run to us with open arms! (Luke 15:11-32)

As we face life’s storms, whether physical or spiritual, may we rely on Jesus Christ, our Rock (Matthew 16:18) and Strong Tower (Proverbs 18:10), our Sustainer, Comforter, Counselor (Isaiah 9:6), Light of the world (John 1:9; 8:12; 9:5), and Almighty God! 

© 2021 Laurie Collett

 

Liberty or License?

 

In the United States, our weekend celebrations commemorate America’s independence from England in 1776. Wishing US readers a joyous holiday, and all readers the joy and peace found only in the perfect liberty of Christ, May you enjoy this repost from the archives. 

 

As we consider the battles the fledgling American nation endured, we realize that they were motivated by the quest for freedom from tyranny, taxation, and religious oppression. Liberty was the prize sought after at all cost, for as patriot Patrick Henry declared, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” Our Declaration of Independence says that our Creator has given us “unalienable rights” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

 

Even more important than political and religious liberty is eternal liberty, which only Jesus Christ can provide. Every born-again believer (John 3:3-8) who has trusted in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6) has liberty from the oppression of sin. In His mercy, God spared His children from eternal death and damnation (Romans 3:25; 6:23). In His grace, He gave us eternal, abundant life with Him and our loved ones who know Him as Lord and Savior (John 3:16; 10:10). 

 

Jesus Christ has forever removed us from the penalty of sin, which is physical, spiritual, and eternal death (Romans 3:25; 6:23) He was the perfect, complete sacrifice, Whose finished, perfect work on the cross was sufficient to pay for all the sins of all mankind, past, present and future (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2). When God looks at the born-again believer (John 3:3-8), He no longer sees our sins, but the perfect righteousness of His Son (Romans 3:22,25;5:18). 

 

But does liberty from the penalty of sin entitle us to lawlessness? Because of the curse of sin brought on by Adam’s disobedience, no man can perfectly keep God’s law (Exodus 20:1-17; Romans 3:23). Should we even try? Our society, country and even some churches seem to be marred by permissiveness that often promotes individual liberty over morality and the common good. They have rejected the Creator, Who has turned them over to the consequences of their own sin (Romans 1:28-31). 

 

Followers of Jesus Christ have the freedom of knowing that even when we do sin, we cannot lose our salvation (Romans 8:35-39). We are saved by grace, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9), and Jesus Christ has freed us from bondage to sin (Hebrews 9:14-15). We can't earn our salvation by being "good" or by not breaking the law (Romans 3:10-12). Given our liberty in Him (Luke 4:18), are we not freed from the law? (Romans 7:4-6)  

 

If we are guilty of breaking even a single point in the law, whether in deed or even in thought, we are considered guilty of breaking the whole law (James 2:10-13).  Only One Person could keep the law perfectly, and that is Jesus, Who died and rose again so that we could be freed from sin and death (Hebrews 9:14-15). We still need the law, not for salvation (Romans 3:19-21; Hebrews 7:19), but as a mirror to show us our sin and our need for a Savior (James 1:22-25). 

 

Our liberty in Christ does not give us license to sin, because we are to love God and love one another (Matthew 22:36-40), showing our love by obeying His commandments (John 14:15,21). When asked if we can sin freely so that God’s grace can much more abound, Paul replied, “God forbid!” (Romans 3:31; 6:1-15). 

 

Once we are saved, we should be in the world to spread the Good News of the Gospel (Acts 1:8), but not of the world (John 15:19; 17:14-16). This requires us to be a living sacrifice to Christ (Romans 12:1), set apart from worldly habits, holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). Only then can others believe our testimony that Jesus is our Lord Who has redeemed us from sin, for they see proof of it in our lifestyle (2 Peter 3:11). 

 

The greatest fear of the apostle Paul was that he would be a castaway, or put on the shelf and removed from active service to God (1 Corinthians 9:27). Even Paul, arguably the greatest man of faith and Christian service ever to walk the earth, had this fear, and so should we. 

 

Paul was highly sensitive to the potential consequences of his actions. He knew that Christians were no longer bound by the dietary laws of Moses, and that whatever he ate could not jeopardize his salvation. Yet Paul was careful not to do anything that a babe in Christ might perceive as sin, such as eating food known to be offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8:4-13), because that might cause the newly saved to stumble in his Christian walk (Romans 14:13). 

 

Modern day examples might be drinking alcohol, indulging in off-color humor, or attending worldly entertainment. We can do all these without losing our salvation, yet they weaken our testimony to others and may even cause them to be discouraged or to fall (2 Peter 3:17). There are consequences for them and for us, because we may lose our health, joy, peace, and opportunities for service. 

 

Every day we must fight the battle between our “old man,” or sin nature, who wants us to fall back in our sinful ways, and the new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15), who wants us to yield to the Holy Spirit by following and serving Jesus (Romans 6). We can refrain from sin only by yielding to the Holy Spirit within us, Who cannot sin (1 John 3:9). 

 

When we do sin, breaking the commandments in thought or in deed (Matthew 5:28), as we do nearly daily by having a covetous, angry or lustful thought, it is because our old sin nature has momentarily won out over the Spirit (Romans 7:14-25). May we daily put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-13) to fight the devil and his traps luring us to lawlessness (1 Timothy 3:6-7), and praise God for the liberty He has given us in Christ!

 

© 2016 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives