Tuesday; October 21
I have been interested in
hurricanes most of my life. Maybe it was
being raised by people who had lived a good portion of their lives on the east
coast of Florida and influenced by a grandfather who made his living fishing in
the coastal waters of the Atlantic.
Maybe it was the storms that blew close to and through our area when I
was a child in southwest Florida. It
might have even been the fact that Jeane and I arrived on our honeymoon in
south Florida about the time as Tropical Storm Dennis. No matter what shaped me, I have been intrigued
by hurricanes. While there are a lot of
fascinating things about these powerful storms, one of the most intriguing to
me is the presence of the eye of the hurricane.
At the core of this mass of violence, chaos and destruction is a
peaceful center. As the rest of the area
is battered by all kinds of forces of nature, at the heart of the storm is an
eerie calmness.
As I thought about this,
I saw a parallel in life. There is a lot
of chaos and destruction spinning around us, but there is hope as long was stay
centered in the truth of God. When we are
close to God, we can be free of all the noise in the world and safe from all
the destruction suffered by so many people.
The New Testament makes an interesting promise, “Submit therefore to
God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and
He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify
your hearts, you double-minded.”
(James 4:7-8). Are we looking for
peace in our lives? Let’s move closer to
the protection offered by the center of our universe.