Living on the Gulf Coast, we know the routine when a hurricane (or, as some people say, harricane) heads our way. We’ve been down this road before. It’s funny, but Coast folks date things by hurricanes. “We got the Chevy right after Katrina.” Unfortunately, we got a lot of things after Katrina. Or, “We moved into our house around Elena.” It’s just a Coast thing.
I’m sure this takes place in other parts of the country as well. There is some old guy (he would have to be old) in Atlanta who has said, “Yeah, we got married just before they started working on the Interstate.” Someone, somewhere, is going on about how they met their wife in the Shoney’s, before it became a Chinese restaurant.
One of the first things you learn about hurricanes is that you can’t control them. (Conspiracy theorists, move on.) Experts, and now AI, have gotten real good at figuring out where they are going and how strong they might be. We know that dust coming up from the desert in Africa is our friend. We pray for dry air. We check temperatures in the Gulf. We think we understand wind shear. But with all that knowledge, we still can’t change them.
Coasties know the routine. Secure things in the yard. I think this might have been the first time I took down a Fall flag. Get gas. Check your hurricane box. I keep one with flashlights, chargers, extension cords, and a roll of duct tape. Cause you never know when you will need to tape something.
We hit the grocery store, too. I get a little out of control. There is something about hurricanes that makes me want to get way too many cans of things we can warm up on the gas stove. He may not have ever received a James Beard Award, but Chef Boyardee was no slouch.
We empty the water, bread, and milk sections of the grocery store. And then we wait…eat…wait…and eat.
The funny thing is, after all the preparation, there comes a point when there is nothing left to do. The yard is picked up. The gas cans are full. The phones are charged. The hurricane box is sitting where you can find it. You have enough canned food to feed your family for three weeks, even though you know good and well you are going to eat it all before Tuesday.
Then you sit and watch the weather.
You watch the little line on the map. Did it shift??!!! You watch the spaghetti models. You watch the wind speed. You watch the cone. You watch the storm wobble a little to the east and feel a little better. Then it wobbles back west and you start watching again.
Eventually, though, you realize there is nothing else you can do.
After you have done all that you can do…you trust.
Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.”
I like that. It doesn’t say God will keep trouble from coming. It says He will be our refuge when it does.
If you think about it, life and hurricanes are a lot alike. There are things that will come your way that you have no control over. You couldn’t stop them if you tried. Life happens. Storms happen. Bad news comes. Plans change. People disappoint us. Doors close. Sometimes the forecast changes overnight.
We spend a lot of time trying to control things that were never ours to control in the first place.
That doesn’t mean we sit around and do nothing. We prepare. We make wise decisions. We do what we can. We help our neighbors. We take care of what God has placed in our hands.
But eventually, we have to leave the rest with Him.
The hurricane may pass east of us. It may turn. It may weaken. It may strengthen. We can watch the forecast, but we cannot steer the storm.
And life is the same way.
We prepare the best we can and then we trust the One who knows the whole forecast.
God was with us before the storm. He is with us in the storm. And He will be with us after the storm.
So buy your bread. Fill up the gas cans. Bring in the chairs. Charge your phone.
And when you’ve done all you can do, trust God.
He’s still in control.
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