The post I should be writing would be entirely too long to hold anybody's attention. It would be a stream of consciousness, dumping of the thoughts, cleaning out your brain type of post. Instead I'll tell you what I learned during this year's hurricane.
This is my second hurricane season in Daytona Beach and this time I chose not to stay. I was blessed to have a friend take me in and let me crash at her house. She was a true blessing and the time during the storm was like being at a retreat. I learned a few things this year that I really wasn't expecting to learn, but I'm glad I did.
1. When the eye of the storm passes over, you see everything clearly.
The eye of the hurricane is usually the most pronounced part, and although chaos is raging all around it, remains fairly peaceful. In the middle of everything crazy, there's always a moment of clarity where you see exactly what you need to see. This lesson came for me through seeing that the people around me were not who they claimed to be. Not a new lesson, just really unexpected from the people that it came from. People are funny like that. Disasters tend to either bring out the best or the worst in people, and this one brought out the worst.
2. The storm uproots everything dead and rotten.
A lot of the damage from hurricane Irma came through downed and uprooted trees and fallen tree limbs. Of course there was wind damage and flooding too but the widespread damage (where I was) was due to trees. Sometimes we look at things in our life and think they're healthy and growing because we see a twig here or a sprig of leaves there, when in all actuality it's dead and rotten. The roots aren't even holding onto the dirt anymore. Goals, dreams, friendships, career, relationships, plans... lots of things appear to have life but end up broken and tossed aside because they were no longer alive. That's not a bad thing though, it just means some pruning needed to be done.
3. After the storm, the cleanup begins.
After every hurricane there are cleanup crews waiting in the wings for the word that it's safe to start working. The storm may have made a mess, but it won't stay that way for long. No matter what God exposed during the storm, what He tore down and uprooted, He has a cleanup crew already on deck to restore order. Sometimes that's the whole purpose of the storm in the first place. We get bogged down, stuck in ruts. connected to the wrong things/people, or just get weary and need to be made over.
4. You may experience power outages.
The winds that come and knock down the power lines may take out the electricity, but there's still power flowing through those lines. That's why they're called live. The power lines get knocked down but the repairmen always come and reconnect the lines back to the source. Sometimes, God has to allow us to be disconnected from the wrong conductors and circuits. We need to get back to the original source and allow His power to recharge us and fuel everything that we do.
5. Things destroyed during the storm make room for new stuff
Although you may lose some things during the storm, if you have insurance you can be sure that they'll be replaced. God if the best insurance agent there ever was. Although I lost some things during the storm, God has replaced or restored every one. He said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Everything that died in the storm is becoming new. You should go ahead and praise Him right there. Shout new!! I know I did...
So many lessons come about during the storms of life that it's sometimes difficult to see what God is trying to get you to see. But wait on that eye... that aha moment will come and things will start to make sense. Seek Him for understanding and direction. You won't make it through the storm if you're not anchored in Jesus.
