Storm Proof Your House

I met a new neighbor the other day who just moved from the Asheville, North Carolina area. In fact, he left the morning before the worst damage occurred. He asked me if I was familiar with the area and told me about a place called Chimney Rock. I had been there years ago. Then he said, “It’s gone.” All the buildings and houses were swept away. It is as if no town ever existed there.

The power of nature and the devastation it brings ought to humble us. When we are confident that we are in control of our environment, natural disasters should remind us that we are powerless to stop them. They should remind us of just how fragile our possessions and our very lives are.

Though there is great pain and loss after such tragedies, one encouraging note is that calamities bring out the good in people. They feel compassion for the victims and do what they can to help. In a time when many are selfish, this is a ray of sunshine in a dark world.

There is no way to predict or prepare for disasters of this magnitude. But there is a kind of disaster that is far worse, and Jesus said that we can prepare for it and avoid it.

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matt. 7:24-27).

Physical disasters strike good people and bad people. So do the storms of life—things like sickness, trouble with children, marriage problems, church splits and death. The only way to withstand these trials is to listen to the Lord and do what He says. Otherwise, we’re building a house on sand and it will be swept away.

Kerry

West End church of Christ • October 6, 2024