Blown Away

I just came back from my (almost) daily walk around my neighborhood. It is a beautiful clear day with a bright blue sky. Birds are singing and the neighborhood is quiet and orderly. Just 24 hours ago, storm clouds were churning overhead and tornado sirens were making themselves heard, not just here, but across the southeast. As I walked, I couldn't help but think about all the people who woke up yesterday to cloudy skies and ended the day amid rubble and devastation, many having lost everything.

The areas in Alabama that were most affected are familiar to me. My family is from that area, I lived in Tuscaloosa as a preschooler. I have family in Birmingham, Jasper, Clanton, not to mention friends nearby. More recently, I have become reacquainted with the area thanks to the generosity of friends with a lake house. And so I have been looking for landmarks, and sad to recognize favorite places like restaurants and stores that are no more. I feel very petty for being sad over a restaurant being gone, but I think it is more than that. It is a connection, making the loss there personal. It is the loss of the routine, the familiar.

As I thought on these things, my heart began to ache for those who have lost everything. Everything. I can't fathom it. I had really thought that I had a grasp of being open handed with God. I don't see myself as being materialistic or selfish. But the thought of those people walking through complete rubble where absolutely nothing is familiar or safe or recognizable takes my breath away. Years ago, I learned a phrase from my dear friend and teacher Randy, "It's all going to burn up in the big fire." He taught us this concept in relation to giving, letting go of our materialism and obsession with our stuff. I am beginning to see that I am comfortable with this concept because when the "big fire" comes, I know I will be with Jesus. It won't matter anymore.

But what about now? What if the big storm comes before the big fire? Would I be ok with that? I don't think I am there yet. I need to work on it. I have a long way to go. My prayer for me, and for you, is that God will teach us that our security is found only in Him. It isn't in our surroundings. It isn't in the familiar. It isn't even in our families. It is in Him alone. My prayer for those who have lost everything is that they will know the same...that God will be their anchor in these days, and that they will cling to Him, that they will find Him, in this storm.