My wife and I live in an hurricane prone state.  We live inland so most of the time we only get glancing blows.  Harvey was devastating for Houston.  While they recover with help from government and charities, Irma hits Florida.  The challenge with predictions is they keep changing. First predictions were for Irma to hit Miami and the East Coast. Then predictions shifted towards the Gulf Coast.  Then Irma “wobbled” and moved back inland.

Government officials trying to micro-manage macro hurricane storms like Irma borders on futility.  They order mass evacuations based on early predictions which then are not fulfilled.   Watching TV news is very stressful.  They emphasize the worst case scenarios. Of course no one wants to understate the potential for disaster.  We just happened to be in Tennesse.  We decided to drive home to sit out the storm.  We knew from history that our area does not get direct hits.  For awhile, that became the prediction.  Irma was supposed to go straight up the middle of Florida, causing destruction on a broad scale. So much for that prediction as it disappeared when Irma kept moving Westward.  We marveled at the heavy traffic on the highway going North.  We were going South with hardly any traffic.  Were we making a mistake?

We prayed a lot for Irma to move far Westward out of everyone’s harm’s way.  But, then Irma “wobbled” within its projected path.  It moved inland to the East while in South Florida.  This helped to spare our area from the worst of winds.  It blew through fast, though, and little damage was recorded in our area aside from losing power.  However power loss across most of Florida set records.  We were one of the “lucky ones” to get power back sooner rather than later (Which is why I can write this post).  The road to full recovery for our area and all of Florida remains.   Irma turned out to be a record setting hurricane for Florida. Total damage will be in billions of dollars beyond our imagination. But, we know Jesus was able to calm the storm and save his followers in the boat.  God can do the same for us today.  Perhaps not the way we want, but be here with us and comfort us, if not directly aiding and protecting us.

Mark 4:38-41 ‘But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”’ (ESV)