In Preparation for Hurricane Florence

September 12, 2018

Tennessee doesn’t get hit by hurricanes, so this is new.

I’m sitting at my desk. We’re closing school. Hurricane Florence will hit us within the next 48 hours.

As I talk to folks about the impending storm, the ghost of Hurricane Matthew haunts everyone’s conversations.  Some here were without power for more than ten days after Matthew hit, so our community is taking  Florence seriously. I heard our local Lowes store sold one thousand generators over the weekend.  One gentleman told me he arrived at the store only to find they’d all been sold.  So, he got in line with over a hundred people waiting for an afternoon shipment.

People are worried.  I’m worried. Do we have enough water?  Will we have enough fuel if we lose power?   Will the school flood?  Will all of our buildings survive high winds?

Then, my wife shared a Facebook video of our elementary students praying and singing.  What a message!  While watching I noticed that 12,000 people had already viewed the video.  I jumped on Facebook again this morning.  Close to 580,000 people have viewed our children singing.  By this evening, the video has been shared my media outlets and individuals around the country; at last count, it had over 2 million views.  If you haven’t seen it, here it is:

We’ve spent the majority of our time over the past 5 days preparing for the storm.  We have gathered supplies, made plans, worked through contingencies … and worried.  But, in the midst of the flurry of activity, our children sang a beautiful truth.  The One who will carry us through the storm, is the One who can calm the storm.

I’m humbled.

I’m thankful for our teachers who demonstrate their love for Jesus every day.  I am thankful for our parents who have taught and modeled the love of Jesus.  I’m thankful for our churches who have shared the Gospel and cultivated the personal relationships with Jesus.

Mostly, I’m thankful that the God who left His throne in heaven to die on the cross for my sins can also command the winds to stop and the sea to calm.

Isn’t it just like God to use our children to remind our community – and this great  nation — of His great love and power?

 Luke 8:23-25

And as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”