After the Storm, What's Left? God Is!

Sandy, the Super Storm, did her damage and left.  Many people are exclaiming, "The Jersey shore is gone, completely gone!"  I have seen the pictures, and it breaks my heart.  All the debris, all the homes with no walls to hold them up.  Sand-covered streets everywhere.  I heard that the sand cannot just be bulldozed back to the shore; it has to be sifted first.  What a monumental task is ahead for the people who live on the Jersey shore.

In Staten Island it doesn't seem to stop.  The stories are heart wrenching, and the lights are still off over a week later.  There were more killed on this little island than anywhere else in the area hit. 

In Northern New Jersey the trees have sheared houses in half, and brought towns to their knees.  The cost of the damage is astronomical. 

In Brooklyn, the aftermath of fires and floods leave behind broken dreams; and only memories of what used to be are left behind.  Lower Manhattan flooded, the tunnels, literally under water. 

People who were relying on generators to give them some heat, or to run a small stove to feed the children a canned meal have to wait in line for hours for gasoline.  It's like the 1970s again; odd and even days determine who gets gas. 

There is all this devastation.  There is so much loss.  And you know what, dear Reader?  I haven't heard anything about other nations coming to our aid.  It seems they never do.  We, as a country lend quickly to other nations when they are devastated with earthquakes, tsunamis, or other disasters.  The United States sends the help, the laborers, and the money immediately.  Meanwhile, as she sits in ruins, no one calls asking if they can help. 

So the help comes from within this country.  Not from the United Nations which is housed in New York City or from any of the countries represented by it, but from other towns and other cities and other states in this God-blessed land! 

The mayor of Belmar, NJ declared that they will be up and running by Memorial Day!  Here is a town that has damage on almost every street, yet the hope of the residents is to bring it back to life and show the world that they are survivors.  There are thousands of people without power but grateful to still have a roof over their heads. 

Then a week later a nor'easter came through the same areas of New York and New Jersey.  Five inches of snow straddle the remaining branches still covered with leaves, it being so early in the season.  In Connecticut, eight inches of snow fell.  The winds blew at 60 mph, scattering the piles of debris, the belongings of families that were destroyed by water, making it even worse somehow to look at all this and believe that a new day would be coming and with it any hope of renewal or restoration.  In total, so far the death toll from Sandy alone is at least 85.

I’m sure there are many out there wondering where God was through all this.  Some even explaining how this is proof that there is no God, because a loving God wouldn’t do this to His children, would He? 

I shake my head when the God haters and atheists come out in droves at times like this and spew their own miserable kind of stench out for the media to pick up; and it amazes me how they always comment on the stories about the circumstances, whether a tornado, blizzard, earthquake, hurricane, or whatever it may be.  “So where WAS your God?”

I know that our God was there.  I know that He kept His mighty hand of protection on millions of people during that storm; otherwise there would have been many more dead.  We live in a time where society has taken everything good, called it bad, and taken evil and called it good.  We live in a society that fully believes in child sacrifice, votes for the one who promises it the loudest, and then demands that a monument be erected in the area where a delivery truck full of fish turned over.  We should remember and memorialize the dead fish!  Mind you, they were already dead, but let’s sacrifice the children without batting an eye.

Our God is an awesome God, and He is fully aware of every single thing that happens in this universe.  Nothing goes on without Him knowing about it, He created everything down to the last detail, and loves His work.  He made each one of us in His own image.

Why didn’t He stop this storm?  As I said in my last post, I believe that if the people of this country got on their knees and prayed and asked God’s forgiveness for their indignant and immoral behavior and asked Him to keep the storm from hitting that He would have.  With all my heart I believe that.  The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16).  God hears our prayers.  He also hears when we curse Him and throw Him out of our schools, and court houses, and in some cases, I think our churches.  He is a gracious God, and will do as asked, even if it breaks His heart.

If you want to see Him back in times of disaster, perhaps it’s time to ask Him back.  We as a country need to put our own greedy desires aside and seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and then, as promised, all those things will be added unto us.  I personally want God to be so big in my life that I can’t ignore Him.  I believe His promises are true, and I believe He is faithful and loving and kind.  I believe that I matter to Him more than anything else He created.  We are His children and He loves us. 

So please, dear Reader, I know the world seems dim right now, and the land is dark and totally messed up, and perhaps what was once your home and your livelihood may be gone, and if you have lost what you believe is everything that mattered, please know that you haven’t lost the love of God.  And you won’t.  No matter what.  He is there, and He is waiting for you to call on Him.  Ask Him back into your heart, and believe that He still works miracles and wonders and that He can take all your pain away.  Sometimes the only way to see the obvious is to remove all the other things. 

My heart goes out to all those who lost their jobs, their homes, their belongings, and some, their family members.  I continue to pray for you and ask God to comfort and guide you and give your weary bodies rest.  We need to believe that with God all things are possible, and that we can do all things through Christ Jesus which strengthens us.  We ARE overcomers.  We ARE more than conquerors.  We are children of the Most High God, and we are victorious!  God bless you, and the United States of America.  May she come back to the country she once was; God-fearing and proud of her Christian roots!

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?  What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.  People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.  Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.  Don’t worry about missing out.  You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”  Matt 6:31-34 MSG