A Storm with no name
When a storm hits close to home you're often left picking up the pieces thinking where do I go from here.
Storms don't discriminate. They do not care what neighborhood or city you live in or the tax bracket you may find yourself in. Baton Rouge has gone through the tale of two summers. It was only two months ago they found themselves in a racial divide over the high profile police shooting of Alton Sterling. The following week 3 Officers where then shot and killed.
When everything you own is at the curb for the trash truck to remove you are suddenly faced with a life alter perspective. You realize your neighbors are in the same situation you are. They are people just like you. They are made in the image of God. They are the people of your city as well. They suffer in the same ways we do.
One striking verse of Scripture is found in the book of Amos.
“Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?” (Amos 3:6).
We see in Scripture that the Lord wills whatever comes to pass. This is called the "Sovereignty of God." It is God who decides what comes to pass. It is ultimately for His glory that we pass through trials. Consider what James tells us in his own way:
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” James 4:13-15
While we maybe picking up the pieces from a storm, a natural disaster, house fire or saying goodbye to a loved one with a terminal illness or a personal tragedy, God hears our prayers when we go to Him. We can know for certain that God is the one who has the victory, everything comes to pass for His purpose and our good.