This is hurricane season, and I am thinking about the tremendous power of water. My awareness is also increased by a minor flooding problem in my own home. Water is so necessary to our lives and is the basis for so many enjoyable activities, and yet is such a destructive force when it is beyond our control. We are justifiably afraid.
Even when the waters are wildly beyond our own control, it is good to remember that they do have a limit imposed upon them. The promise given by God to Noah after the great flood was that He would never again destroy the whole earth by water. But even long before Noah’s time, God told Job, "Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, 'This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!' " (Job 38:8-11 NLT) The natural world, with such ferocious power, is still subdued by its Creator.
The same holds true for spiritual "floods." There are sometimes periods in our lives when wave after wave of grief, trouble, discouragement, or doubt pound on us until we feel we will surely drown. In one such flooding crisis, I was desperate for a word of hope and I begged God, “Please . . . talk to me.”
No voice thundered from the heavens, not even a whisper. But very clearly some of the words came to mind that God had already spoken long ago to His suffering people. "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you." (Isaiah 43:2 NLT) God didn’t promise Noah that there won’t ever be too much rain or even a flood, but it cannot overwhelm the earth. And God hasn’t promised us that there won’t be spiritual storms and flooding, but He will be with us and we will survive.
And the flood in my house? It was distressing but, fortunately, it really was only minor. The carpet cleaning team came with equipment to extract the water, and then set up huge fans to blow over the carpet and under it as well. For the next couple of days, walking in that room will be like walking on a bubble!
MaryMartha
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.
Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com
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