Storm Proof

Hurricane Helene plowed into the gulf side of my beloved home-state of Florida Thursday night. She was angry. Cruel. Relentless. Spewing violent winds that yanked up 200 year old oak trees as easily as you yank up a weed in your garden, sending surges of gulf waters up and over roadways, submerging bridges, forcing 8 feet or more of water into homes and business along the coast, and blowing out electricity all over the state. It’s awful. Invasive. Brutal. Devastating. Helene was hell on wheels; and she’s continuing to wreak havoc across Georgia as I write.

Several weeks ago, I wrote a piece called Storm Watch—about hurricane preparedness, a fact of life I grew up with in Florida. Hurricanes happened regularly, so we lived prepared for them. And each year as hurricane season approached, we upped our supplies, and made sure we had all the necessary stuff to hold down the fort in the event the storm blew our way.

The time to prepare for storms is before the storm hits. Long before.

The same holds true for the storms of life.

Get Ready. Live Ready.

Even though I live in Dallas, when a hurricane threatens Florida, I’m glued to the tube and stuck to my phone—checking on family and friends all over the state, praying them through the onslaught of wind and rain. John and I have family on the gulf coast in Bradenton. They’re frequently evacuated when a hurricane comes up the gulf. So, when Helene threatened this week, they knew the drill; they packed up, tried to protect their property as best they could, and then headed inland to wait it out in a hotel. Gosh, it’s a beatdown. When I texted with my sis-in-law, MaryAnne, this morning she said the roads were still flooded and they couldn’t get near their home, but had heard there was a big surge that had forced maybe 3 to 8 feet of water into the house.

Unless you’ve lived through a storm like that, you can’t even begin to imagine the helplessness, and the hopelessness that comes from knowing that even when you’re prepared and ready for the storm, there’s nothing you can do but wait it out and pray… and hope for the best.

Storm Proof

But what about the storms of life? Is there anything that can make our life storm proof? Well, the storms are going to come; James 1:2-4 tells us that trouble, trials, storms of all kinds are going to come. That’s a fact. But becoming storm proof—remaining strong and holding up in the storm and surviving the storm—yes! And Jesus gives us the best instructions in Matthew 7:24-27 for storm preparedness. I’m sharing it from The Message Bible translation. Jesus testifies to the power and the strength of our lives when we’ve built them on the truth of God’s Word.

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

Matthew 7:24-27 (MSG)

Something to Think About

Both of the carpenters Jesus describes in Matthew 7 experienced the same kind of storm. One was stupid. He built his life on a flimsy foundation…on a shifty, sandy beach. He didn’t think about building a strong and fit life, that would prepare him for what might come. Most people don’t—even some Christians. Most people just think a lot about building a beautiful life, a fun life…or building a “beach house” life, if you will; but they don’t give serious thought to building a strong life with a stable foundation that can survive any kind of storm that rolls in.

And what about that other carpenter—the smart one? He got slammed by the same storm. But he had prepared and built his life on a solid foundation well in advance. He had taken God’s Word seriously and lived it. He worked the Truth of God into every aspect of his life. And even though the wind blew and shook his house, and the rains beat against it, and the storm surged around it, he was not shaken apart. His life was held firm, anchored deep in the solid rock of God’s Word.

What have you built your life on? The shifting sand of wordily pursuits and ideas, with a little bit of Jesus. Or have you built it firmly on the solid rock of the Word of God? The only thing that makes a life truly strong and stable is the Author and sustainer of life who has given us the Words of life, strong and true, on which to build the only sure foundation for life. All other ground is just sinking sand.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Listen, friend, I don’t mean to be harsh about this, but the gospel truth is this: God’s Word is not merely meant to be studied but lived. Sitting in a church pew Sunday after Sunday will not prepare you for the storm surges of life. Week after week of Bible study won’t give you hope when the winds and rains threaten your health, your finances, your marriage, your kids. You need to be rooted…anchored deep in the Truth of God’s Word. And that comes by believing it, trusting it, applying it and living it out every day of your life, in every way of your life.

Here’s the thing: The storms are going to come. And the time to prepare…the time to get ready is now. Work God’s Word into every nook and cranny…every aspect of your life. Not just your “spiritual life.” If you’re a Christian—a Christ-follower—then the totality of your life is a spiritual life. And your spiritual life is sustained, strengthened, and grown by taking God’s Word seriously, and metabolizing it into your whole life: your everyday, ordinary life. What does that look like? It looks like all of your life: your sleeping, eating, thinking, dressing, socializing, social-media-posting, going to work, going to work out, going to church, and every-place-you-go— life. All of it. Surrender your entire life to God, infusing every part of it with the Truth of His Word! Learn it. Believe it. Live it.

One More Thing

MaryAnne called this evening to give me an update on the storm damage. I’m so grateful for my “sister” … she’s amazing! Helene was not her first hurricane rodeo by a long shot, and it won’t be her last. Lots of water damage and loss of some household items. But her attitude and perspective are perfectly focused on what is truly important. “It’s all just stuff,” she said. She totally gets it. Several years ago, another kind of storm blew into her life—one named cancer—and she came through it strong, brave, and unshaken in the face of that storm. How? She was prepared. She was ready—more ready than she knew; and she hung on in that storm because she was anchored to the Truth of God’s Word. She’s a storm trooper, that sis of mine! And a pretty, smart carpenter.

Until next week— Get ready and live ready… and don’t forget that you are greatly and dearly loved by The King! So, let’s live our beautiful, ordinary lives like women who believe it!
I love you!
xo – P❤️