You Never Know When

Never knowing what to expect in life from one moment to the next was never more apparent than last Friday morning when Mother Nature woke us from our slumber, then shook us out of bed. For me it was a typical morning with a doctor’s appointment in the big city at mid-morning. A large thunderstorm had passed by about an hour before I got out of bed with more rumbling in the distance. The weather radar indicated it was headed our way so I hurried a morning shower and hoped to be dressed before the power went out, sort of an expectant thing where I live. As I was getting my shoes on the thunder roared and the rain came pouring down. “I’ll have to wait to get to my car now” and as I stood in the doorway with visions of a hot cup of coffee waiting for me at the restaurant, where I meet with my “buds” before going to the office, I could hear a few small hailstones hitting my tin roof, not a good sign, and then total silence, in combination, a very bad sign. I listened for the roar of wind, but never heard it. Then I heard what I thought was thunder in the distance and felt relief that the storm was moving past in haste. But in reality what I heard was a tornado tearing through the city about four blocks away, unknown to us for about half an hour, for the electricity went out leaving us in the dark with only cell phone lifelines. It had stopped raining so I went out to see if the whole city was without electric power, perhaps finding a cup-a-joe somewhere else, finding nothing but blackness, so returned home not even realizing I was within half-a-block of the tornado path. Then the text messages started to come in and we couldn’t believe what we were reading. The High School was damaged big time, but students were okay and businesses we frequent were gone. We had little more to go by and people were calling us from all over the country checking on our welfare. (They heard on TV). Sirens on emergency vehicle screamed for over an hour going here and there. I’d only get in the way so my wife I headed off to the big city to give a doctor some more money. We got back home a little after noon and still no electricity so we went investigating the tornado scene, driving where I could then walking to get closer. Emergency personal were still everywhere, cleaning up the main highway of downed power poles and electric lines. To make a long story (day) short there were no deaths and we are quite lucky compared to some of the communities north of us who were also hit hard by the same storm with tornadoes and severe flooding. Praise God!

[Matthew 24:36-51; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:13-43] I prepared for a night without electricity but was pleasantly surprised when the power lunged everything to life less than twelve hours after the storm. A day without electrical entertainment tends to make one take inventory and be grateful not only for what he has in life, but who he has in life. Several people lost things, but the community rallied to their needs toot-sweet. My wife couldn’t stop crying and praising God for saving lives, especially after the rumor was quashed that our neighbor had lost his life in the storm. He had gotten into the food cooler of the restaurant, saving his life, while the tornado destroyed most of the building. The Lord will return one day, but millions more will meet Him in death before that time. We don’t know when our life will end any more than we know when Jesus will return. Are you prepared or has the world gotten you over-occupied? Love the world, and the things in it, and you will pass away with them (1 John 2:15-17).