It's floodin' down in Texas . . . (I do loves me some Stevie Ray!)

Hey all:

I'm trying to get prepared for Hurricane Ike here. I think my fiancée is a lot more worried about my safety than I am of my own (she's well out of the way of the storm). Anyway, please pray for the Houston area and all areas affected by this one.

If I can, I want to get the next verse in Proverbs done this week, since, with today's post, I'm only at two for the week. Hopefully the power will stay on long enough tomorrow for me to do that. But who knows when power will be back, so if you don't hear from me in a while, it'll probably be a lack of power. No worries, friends! We're just going to prepare as best we can and leave it in God's hands.

There are certain parts of the Bible I turn to in certain times. When I really feel like I’m under attack, I may turn to Ephesians 6, while my coming marriage causes me to turn to Ephesians 5 quite often. When I just want to dwell on the greatness of the Word, I will turn to Psalm 119, and John 1 never fails to bring an awe of Christ.

In times like these, the book of Philippians brings me great peace. There are so many verses I could quote, but here’s a good one:

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
-Philippians 4:5-6

Surely it was God’s providence that I was listening to Mark Driscoll preaching on this very verse not a few days before I knew Ike was coming this way. (By the way, Mark Driscoll is a wonderful teacher of the Word, and I would recommend his podcasts to those willing to learn.) How wonderful of God to give me this sort of peace in the very time most would be most anxious.

It seems so strange of a concept, to not ne anxious of the looming hurricane with a 200-mile radius. It is natural to be worried about something like that. Of course it is!

Except . . .

Except that we say we have faith in God. We have faith that the death of Christ would save us from death, and that His resurrection would mean ours as well. We have faith that He will bring about His Kingdom. Our hope rides on that.

Why do we not think He has control over this situation as well?

Let’s be clear: The hurricane is our fault. Seriously. And not because of global warming or some other theory like that. Because of sin. With sin, we didn’t just bring death to ourselves, but also to nature. We should not blame God for this.

But we should also trust Him to use this for good.

Certainly we should prepare. Certainly we should make sure our families are safe. Certainly we should pray. Especially should we pray. But most of all we should trust in the Source of our salvation.

You may think I’m crazy to say so. Maybe. Maybe it’s just because I’m starting to understand more of what Paul is talking about in this letter. Check it out tonight, and check it out the next time you are tempted to be anxious about something.