The Bible tells us we are not guaranteed in life from trouble. In fact, the Bible tells us there will be times of trouble.  Many troubles do come into the life of Christians, but the Scriptures do promise that he will be with us during these times and we can call upon him in times of trouble.   We as Christians have an opportunity to let the light of Jesus shine through us during such times.   When we heard the news that this storm, as they were calling it a hurricane, a catastrophic storm approaching our state, both Bill and I had peace. We prayed and seeked the Lord about this upcoming storm. He gave us His peace. The Scripture says, peace that passes all understanding and this was a pure example of that scripture. There was no logical explanation for our peace, except for His promise in his word. Peace that passes ALL understanding.  The news said catastrophic, the Lord impressed peace.  People panicking in fear, the Lord impressed peace. Shortages, lines, the energy all around in chaos, but we had complete peace.

We as Christians know the Lord is with us. We are commanded not to fear. We stand full of faith and obey what he tells us. In Psalms 91:1 it states, “He that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”. His shadow, his wings protect us.  Our responsibility is to listen to his guidance and instructions to act or not act. We need not to worry or fear, in fact God says we are not to fear 365 times in the Bible. Deuteronomy 31:6 states not to fear. It is our choice to yield to the fear or not to yield.  It is a command, not if you can, he said fear not.  Faith is our victory, faith is our assurance to overcome these trials and tribulations. One thing we have to remember, storms do not last forever. The storms of life don’t last.  They have a beginning and an end. Some feel that they are the only one that is going through a storm,  but many people go through storms of life. These things shall pass and end.

As the hurricane came and went, we had many opportunities to serve others and to help in their time of need; a word or a helping hand cleaning up the aftermath from the storm. The love of God within us compels us supernaturally to serve others, not by ritual or a duty to do so, but by love he leads us and guides us to do so. It was so wonderful to see how people were unifying together in helping each other in this time of need.  Neighbors helping other neighbors, stopping on the side of the street to talk even if it was just for a moment to see how they weathered the storm. Storms of life bring people together. When our phone service was restored, we both received many text messages from people we haven’t heard from in sometime. The love of the Father comes through our natural human instinct which is to love one another.  So during times of trouble, remember to reach out, care for one another and help one another through the love of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.  Matthew 22:37-40 states, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets”. These storms were a strong reminder to love one another.