The Storm

The Storm

1/31/15

How prepared are we for a real national catastrophe and how would we deal with one if that setting actually occurred? Could we systematically survive such a storm or catastrophic event?  One would suspect that a nation of such wealth and stability would not even have to ask this question, but Rome, Athens and other great empires were in the same stance when disaster struck.  One must question our spiritual status as well for if our physical stature is faulty that can only mean one thing concerning our spiritual side as well.  What do you think?  I think, we better be more prepared, physically and definitely spiritually.

Over the past three to four decades I have read about, watched and even witnessed natural disasters.  I have to be honest with you the only major one that I was directly involved in was a nice sized hurricane that pounded SE Texas back in the early 80s.  Hurricane Alicia was a nasty storm and it crossed directly over our community above Houston during the afternoon, evening and nighttime.  It was a fascinating moment in my life for I had never witnessed anything like this before.  My uncle and his family had gone through Hurricane Frederick which wiped out Mobile, Alabama some years earlier and I had laid witness to a couple of small – moderate earthquakes while living in California.  But Alicia was different because she took hours to complete and the devastation she left behind took even longer to clean up.

I remember that we had plenty of time to prepare for the storm and that my parents did everything they could to ensure that our house was ready for the onslaught of wind and rain.  As I, my parents had never been in such a sized storm so this was a first for all of us.  We were inland far enough that when the storm came in, along with the tide being out, we had no real threat of serious flooding, but the power situation was another category.  Back in the 80s there was no fancy computers, no internet and cell phones were only mobile car phones which only a slight portion of the population had at that time.  The entire communication system was smaller and much simpler and had to be taken into consideration when presenting information to the public.  Times were a lot different back then but there was one common factor back then that there is now and that is the human.

The time of preparation was adequate even with the “limited” amount of weather information that was available.  The news stations did an excellent job of predicting where Alicia was going to hit and how severe her winds and rain were going to be.  The stations had emergency phone numbers to contact for usage of shelters and who had places for people to eat if necessary.  Lists of items that everyone might have needed for isolated conditions were given and it seemed like everyone had enough supplies already in storage.  The reality of the storm was approaching and there was nothing that mankind could do about it, she was coming and there was nowhere to run.  I had no clue at the time that the same system of grocery stores that was in place back then had the same system in place today.  The only way that I know this is that the roads are the same, the delivery methods are the same, the prepared and stored food are the same, the stores have different names but are the same, and once again the humans have different names but we are the same also.  I had always stood in line waiting to check out of the grocery store, so the lines at this time did not mean much to me either and I did not even notice how many people were in line either.

When Alicia hit she was nothing short of the description that had been designated to her.  I remember having our windows open a bit so that the pressure would not build up and destroy the house.  The walls did creek a bunch and I could have sworn that they moved with the passing winds.  But the house withstood her fury and as the night loomed, our place within the house was in the main hallway with mattresses and pillows over us; it was a long and uncomfortable night.  At one point the winds completely died down and my brother and I snuck out of the house for a bit to look at the sky.  There was a fair amount of damage but the worst was yet to come.  It was the second part of the storm that was the havoc bringer and Alicia lived up to her calling and battered the entire area with horrendous winds and rainfall. 

After Alicia had passed the local authorities were driving by and making sure that everyone was ok and at the same time informing everyone to stay at home and not to get out because of the damage that had occurred.  I noticed that most of the trees within our street had withstood the storm but a few did not and while they were large in size Alicia’s winds had no trouble toppling them onto the ground.  My uncle said that at one point during hurricane Frederick that he looked out his window and immediately saw a tree fly by his house, so why would Alicia be any different I thought to myself.  Of course we had no electricity and while our yard was cluttered with limbs and other debris, our house had escaped major damage from the storm.

The cleanup process had began and I remember that the house across the street was on a different grid than us and the city had restored power to their side of the street but not ours, so we plugged our freezer and refrigerator into their sockets so that we could have some basic necessities once again.  The storage problem was not the issue but we found out real quick that we had not thought of everything when it came to the necessities.  No we were not hurting at all and we were never in any danger of starving but some of the minor amenities that we take for granted each day were not around and it opened my parents’ eyes real quick.  After everything was said and done it was not until months later that the area was fully back up and running normal.  We were lucky in that many of our necessities were not lost, but not everyone in our small town or in the area hit could say that.  Many struggled for months and some for years, for they lost everything and had to rebuild from the ground up.  Anyone of us could have been in that situation and if we do not wake up and prepare ourselves, many of us could face this reality soon.

Throughout my life I have indirectly witnessed many other storms that have devastated many lands and I have also noticed that many of the people within these lands were far from being adequately prepared for the survival stages after the storm or natural event had gone through its motions.  I have watched nations beg for help and many come to their rescue.  I have been told about many people dying when natural disasters occur and have heard that many more die while waiting for help.  It seems like many others around the world are paralyzed by these events and cannot respond in time, even when the conditions for these other countries seem perfect.  Red tape, procedures and doctrinal ties fight for the needed help, yet end up failing tremendously in the end.  But what if the leader of the free world is the one who has been hit?  What would the economies of the world do in response?  Could they respond or would they too be in such disarray that their economies collapse as well.  All of these questions remain to be answered and it does not look like they are currently high on our list to address or to answer.

This week witnessed another huge storm that was approaching the east coast of this country.  With all of the advanced technology available today the weather experts began preparing the public days in advance. It was a spectacular view of coverage that almost everyone in western society knew about and with all of the talk about this storm, some might even say it was the storm of the century that was about to hit.  Radar images and projection maps predicted when the storm was going to reach land, where it was going to land and approximately how much snow was going to fall.  The same concepts that we heard about in the early 80s with hurricane Alicia were widely broadcast to anyone who had access to the internet or satellite television.

While all of these broadcasts were ongoing the newscasters also projected images that looked very familiar to me.  It was people in the area that was about to be hit with this storm standing in line at the grocery stores waiting to be checked out with the items they had in their possessions.  Headline after headline on the internet stated that thousands of stores were empty due to the fact that people were buying last minute items to help them through the storm.  While this setting does not shock me in any way, it does make me shake my head because this portion of the country is not strangers to this type of conditions.  It seems like almost every year that region is hit with some type of natural disaster or potential disaster and those people still wait until the last minute to get prepared.  I understand that other parts of the country that suffer from these natural phenomenon are subject to the same type of behavior, and I can guarantee that many of those people would act in the same way.

The question that remains is that if these people have experienced this type of condition before and act the same way each time, then what would happen if an unknown debacle occurred without warning?  It is known that hurricanes occur and that earthquakes strike at a moment’s notice and we can prepare ourselves physically for these natural occurrences but even then we have proven to everyone that we are not fully prepared.  Are we prepared to lose our economic standards?  What would occur if the stock market literally crashed in a matter of days? Or how would we respond if one of our large dams break and floods a large portion of the country?  What would happen if both occurred at the same time?  How would we react and would we be prepared?

With all of the “knowledge” that we have bottled up within our brains one would think that we have placed this type of considerations on the table and have thought out a well documented and well advised plan.  Has the public been warned enough concerning these types of possibilities?  It does not take too much intelligence to figure out that as long as humans walk this planet things are going to happen.  Some of these things will not be good things and others will be better than ever before.  Has the west lived in their cocoon for too long that we have forgotten what 9/11 was and HOW we got to that point in the first place?  From the looks of things we have blown off that event and will go about walking like nothing ever occurred.  That is ok folks, for that is our choice to do so but know that as long as humans are on this planet there will be those who will seek and find out ways into this land in order to harm us, especially in unconventional ways.  So while we are parading around and crying about equal rights, justice and love for everyone, rest assured that others are planning a different type of parade.

When 9/11 occurred many thought that we were prepared on 9/10 for any disaster that reached our shores.  Since that time in history many devastating storms have crushed our shoreline towns and cities, many people have gone on murderous rampages because they were upset at someone for some reason.  Violence has gripped our land and the family itself has not been excluded in this murderous plan.  What do all of these factors have in common, it is the human and the attitude that the human turns to each and every day.  It does not matter where the human is at, the human will act according to what is in her / his heart.  What is the aftermath of these personal and regional disasters?  It is this question that we must address immediately because the direction in which we are headed in will only guarantee us further types of grievances, pain and long lasting agony.

The fear that concerns me about this type of setting is that we have known for a long time that storms cause damage.  We have also known that it is important for us to be prepared at all times just in case some major force presents itself within a short timeframe.  It does not matter what the force or potential natural disaster might be being prepared should be our number one goal. 

It is clear that we would rather focus upon our looks, our jobs and which person we are chatting with instead of looking around us and gathering information concerning our surroundings.  If one questions this assessment, then look at how people view themselves and it will not take you long to figure out just what is important in their lives and what is not.  This is why many attacks from other people are successful and it is also why there are panic stricken long lines at grocery stores right when a storm is approaching.

This also occurs in our spiritual lives as well.  There is an old saying that if your physical (horizontal) relationship is not good then your spiritual (vertical) relationship cannot be in good standing either.  Humans love to follow patterns, it brings us stability.  And when we follow this pattern we tend to keep the same routines in order to ensure that nothing goes array.  So if a pattern of cell phone usage becomes your main focus, then how can one notice things around you when your head is down looking at a screen?  If one’s focus is trying to continuously place blame on others for the problems within the country, how can one be objective and understand those people’s concerns? 

The same holds true with God because if we are busy running around and trying to promote doctrinal concepts to the world or acceptance policies, it is guaranteed that we will miss what is going on in the spiritual realm, which means that someone is going to die without knowing who Jesus is.  How many times has something happened in our lives and we blame someone else for the problem?  Or how many times has a major incident occurred within our personal family and we immediately turn and blame God for what happened?  This is a common act that humans do, and I have to be honest and stand up and say that I have done it as well.  Blame games are a huge sign that a person, group or nation is not prepared for a challenge and blaming God for things enhances this forecast through spiritual terms.

When bad things occur around us we are usually quick to blame others but on the other side of the block we will be the first to take credit for the good things that occur; this too is a human trait.  It is through this blaming process that we do not adequately prepare ourselves for spiritual and physical disasters.  I understand that is a tough statement but it a true one and it is time we return to this concept.  We shall never return back to our national glory that God has bestowed upon us and we shall definitely not return to God while we harbor this fact.  It is easy for others to recognize the state of a nation by the way the people of that nation conduct their everyday lives and the same can be said about the spiritual aspects of said people. 

Life will produce storms and sometimes those storms cross our paths.  I realize that life itself can be cumbersome and that sometimes we may be caught off guard when these storms arise, but when the majority of the people are in the same condition it is this indicator that something is very wrong.  When this backdrop occurs within the spiritual realm we must remember that the stakes are raised to another level because the importance of being changes.  Everyone knows that the body will die and that there is nothing we can do to prevent this from happening no matter how much money we spend trying to hide this fact.  But our eternal lives are just that, eternal.  Spirit knows no time for it is eternal which means that if it is separated from its Creator then when its house dies it too shall follow the foundations of that house, and if that house is not prepared accordingly and the storm hits, it stands a great chance of being totally destroyed.

It is this spiritual preparation that God is trying His best to show us that we are lacking.  It pains God to see His Church arguing and bickering about who is right concerning human issues.  It pains God to hear us proclaim the ways of the world instead of standing up for His laws that protect us from the world.  It breaks God’s heart for us to choose the ways of the world and to allow them to infiltrate and become a law within our daily practices.  It is through this acceptance of the world that produces our spiritual unpreparedness and it is the root cause of why God has to allow certain storms to cross our paths. 

It has become popular for Christians to accept the ways of the world all in the name of God’s love.  The problem with this belief is that if we love God we shall do our best to keep His laws and commandments, not break them.  Love does NOT override God’s Laws especially when we do not understand the origins of God’s Laws and the real reason why they are in place.  It is this lack of understanding that directs our unpreparedness for if we truly understood what the laws protected us from, we would run to God instead of push Him away.

It is obvious of how we should be prepared for all of the possible physical storms that we may encounter.  It seems so selfish and ridiculous when a storm approaches and we are left panicking in long lines waiting on others to supply our needs.  We know what our necessity items are and we should do our best to have them on hand at all times.  Being prepared is the best way a family, group or nation can be in order to keep order after the storm hits.  Being prepared also allows the people involved stay calm and not to have to worry about details that may cause added stress or harm.  From the footage of this last storm it is not hard to understand that we are not physically prepared for a large scale disaster and I believe it is high time that we become prepared.

On the spiritual aspect of things it too is not difficult to see what we have become.  The Church is not prepared for her groom and it is clear that as of this moment we have no wishes for Him to arrive either.  With all of the social issues being put into place and being accepted by the Church it is easy to recognize that the Church does not even know the intricate details of God and now has no desire to know God either.  This is the prime example of spiritual unpreparedness and it is going to cause serious damage in the very near future.  In all the times recorded in the Bible God gave warning after warning before He had to totally destroy their kingdom and “world” then scatter the Israelites to every corner of the globe.  Even after all of these issues were presented, some still did not get it and we as a nation have fallen into the same category and we have drug our spirituality right along with us.

We are a physically and spiritually unprepared nation and God is about to change some things.  If you want to know what is coming, then read the Old Testament scriptures because it will be on that scale, not exact but on that scale.  We have been warned over the past few decades and we have flat ignored them, both physically and spiritually.  So, now God will have to take the next step.  However!!!  I have good news!!!  This process can be stopped if and only if we turn our hearts back to God and reverse our footsteps.  And if we do not, then God has no choice but to push us back into repentance and in order for Him to do this, He must grab our attention and from the examples of our past fallings away, He will have to shake pretty hard.  We must remember that a spiritual test can be a hard and quick jolt or it can be long and methodical jus as a hurricane, whichever occurs we need to be prepared.

When storms arrive they will present chaos and destruction.  These destructive forces will need to be addressed immediately due to their severity and the timing of such processes.  Hard decisions sometimes need to be made during storms and having to worry about other issues that should have been taken care of a long time ago just adds to the picture.  Having your possessions in order and knowing where everything of importance is located helps in the evacuation process if it comes to that decision.  I cannot stress the importance of this concept when referring to the spiritual storms as well.  Knowing where your foundation is located and how it is constructed is of dire importance because if we do not understand this structure then we are spiritually doomed.  Spiritual storms are designed for one purpose and that is to grab our attention, they expose our weaknesses and push our faith to the spiritual limits.  They are not easy and many people come out from these storms battered and bruised but if we are not prepared for these storms they will destroy us with little or no effort.  This concept operates in both the physical and spiritual kingdoms and it should be noted that both are at stake.

In conclusion, there are many ways that we can do to be prepared for a physical storm.  We are at the mercy of these storms and cannot do anything but watch them as the track their paths.  Once they strike we can only ascertain the damage and then begin the cleanup.  Mother Nature, as they say, is always at her best and will keep us guessing at all times.  The spiritual storms are of a different matter and actually can be contained and even avoided.  It would be a lot easier on everyone if we took God’s Word and applied it to our lives everyday instead of when we want.  It is easier to clean up after a physical storm than from a physical and spiritual storm combined.  The simple solution to avoid spiritual storms is to live with God and to keep Him first in every aspect of our lives.  It is easy and it is a must unless we really wish to have both types of storms upon our lives.  And folks, unless we immediately turn from our wicked and worldly ways, we will experience both of these storms very soon.  All it takes it a heart’s effort as a nation to avoid this and then keep on that path until the world has been totally rejected.  God loves us and does not wish to see us go through catastrophes either in the spirit realm or in the physical realm as well.

DLB