STORMS OF LIFE

Recently, my wife and I went down to the Gulf along the Cameron coast of Louisiana. For those of you who have ever been down to the beach, you do not need to be told that it is no "Florida". Yes, we had an abundance of brown sand and even darker water. Stuff would float up on the beach that only God truly knew the contents of and its origin. Needless to say, our beaches and water were not the main attraction.

Soon coming upon 2 years ago, one mature lady by the name of "Rita" struck the coast of Louisiana with great fury. I had the opportunity of seeing places where houses had been wiped clean from their foundations. I also visited the marsh and found some of those houses hundreds of yards if not miles away from their initial starting point. The nutria are now using some of that "debris" as homes as I'm sure more than a few snakes have as well. But back to the beach.

The water at our beach was so bad that you could not walk out to your knees and see your feet. It was just dirty. Some say, I have never personally tested this, that the water is dirty because of the Gulf currents that bring the sediment, and whatever else the Mississippi River deposits, to our shores. But the storm has done an amazing thing. For however long it will last, the water is now clear and the sand is now clean. In fact, it is crystal clear and just a few yards out, it turns blue/green. I was totally amazed to see this change. I even took pictures so that others would believe me. Yes the storm had caused a lot of destruction, but it had also "purified" a lot of the coast. The beach is actually a place worth visiting now.

We typically do not like "storms" to come our way in life. We do our best at avoiding trouble at all costs. But, sometimes, they come our way no matter how much we try to avoid them. What we usually do not see during the storm is the purging that is taking place as well. Our spiritual lives that had grown cloudy and soiled after the storm, once again are purged and clean. We usually see just the loss but God sees so much more. Lives have been turned upside down, but they are much cleaner now. Perspectives have changed. The frailty of life is once again understood. And the degree to which we had grown dirty and unkempt are more clearly seen once we have seen the crystal clear that has been left behind.

I would not necessarily pursue the storms of life, but when they do visit, know that God is doing a much greater work than you can imagine, especially in the midst of what you see as only destruction. As fire purges metal and iron sharpens iron, storms wash and purge. Try not to focus so much on the destruction, but instead, focus on the purity of that which is left behind. That is the hand of God at work.

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work , that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Luke