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The
weather was changing quickly as I climbed back up after cleaning the cistern.
Our collie-retriever suddenly slipped downstairs into his hiding spot. We
ran to close the doors and windows. Rain started to fall in sheets, horizontally!
My
daughter, coming back from a baseball game, was momentarily delayed; she
crossed a highway and was hit by a violent rainstorm. The car seemed to
become airborne. A half a mile further, she encountered a few big trees
that had fallen over the road so she had to seek another route home.
At the same time, Girl Guides were homeward bound when
their vehicle got caught between trees that fell behind and in front of
them. Tin sheets flew off a barn completely riveting themselves around trees
some distance away. Several pieces of 2 by 4 pierced a roof and projected
outward at various angles. The tornado threw many more trees down including
a huge 4 foot wide tree of a friend. Then it skipped across town blowing
into a trailer site. Five thousand spectators at Merritville Speedway, one
mile north, said the sky was an ugly, turquoise green. Veering toward a
different direction, the tornado felled a farmer's silo.
The
most dramatic event was now taking place. Nearby was a open-air cinema with
4 different screens. The shows would be starting in a half hour but the
tornado could not wait. With relentless fury, it blew itself into the huge
screen that would soon be hosting the new release, Twister. Like toothpicks,
pieces of lumber flew all over the parking lot. It seemed that this tornado
wanted to meet his older brother for, of the four screens, only one was
hit, the one that would be carrying Twister. As if its job was now completed
the tornado vanished into the Northwest sky.
Then in 1997, she went to another seminar on the same
topic. She needed to get her life back together. She remembered the speaker's
words, "Your life is like a book and right now you may be on page 342. Trauma
in your life may have started on page 14 and I could try to have you go
through all the details and have you read all your many pages of your book.
Indeed, I could make enough money to fill a swimming pool. But as a counselor
and a Christian, I would encourage you to pray that God would show You Himself."
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Shock
and disbelief fell upon our community of Pelham. Scores of onlookers came
to view the damage. Crews of television reporters from all over the country
scrambled to get special coverage. Our community was suddenly transformed
into a huge press conference. Yet, the one thing that was miraculous in
everyone's mind was, that no one was hurt or killed.
This thought filled the minds of the citizens: no injuries
yet so much devastation. More amazingly, how could God program this tornado
to make a screen, soon to be showing Twister completely disintegrate.
We were perplexed. Some said that Mother Nature was up to Her tricks again.
Or were these the forces of God that could not be laughed at?
We all talk about Mother Nature, El Nino, and the forces
of God. We cannot deny that they do exist. You may be caught in the storms
of life where it seems that a twister has uprooted the trees in your life.
It may be the death of a loved one, a divorce/separation, abuse, or being
incarcerated. Life can be very difficult. Amazingly, God has a solution
that can ease so much of your pain. You, too, can be transformed if you
ask Jesus Christ to come into your life to repair the damage in your life.
 A
Suggested Prayer:
"Lord Jesus, I know that you are all too powerful but I have
really messed up my life and I need you to twist things around and
change me. The hurt in my life is seemingly beyond repair but I will
give You a chance to remedy the situation. I am sorry for the wrongs
and hurts that I may have done and I ask you to come into my life.
Thank you for dying on the cross so that I can have new life. Take
me and heal me, I'm yours. Amen!" |
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