False Sense of Security

The area where we moved took a hard hit by Hurricane Rita about a year and a half ago. (Sept. 05)The general area has cleaned up and recovered for the most part, although there are houses which nobody will ever live in again here and there. But, it really struck me on a hike in the Big Thicket how devastating that storm was. A large number of mature trees were laying on their sides all in the same direction. I just stood there and imagined what it must have been like. A truly terrifying experience. Many of the trees were mature with deep roots and yet pulled straight out of the ground. (What a picture as I prayed God would make me like the ones that were able to stand during the terrible storm.)
I have been having repeated conversations with people over the past couple weeks about how nothing is sure except Jesus. The people in our Sunday school class have shared much about their experience through the storm - and I have noticed how many life lessons they learned through that experience, as every subject of any depth that comes up seems to have a "Rita" story attached to it. Many of these people for the first time in their lives faced daily living without electricity, refrigeration, clean water. It was uncharacteristically HOT for that time of the year and there were epic proportions of mosquitoes.
The stories they tell make me think of the storms in my life. Seasons of my husband being unemployed, having a baby with serious health problems, having to move out of a rent house because the owners sell it or decide they want to move back in, my parents' divorce as a young child, rocky seasons in my marriage, the insecurity of leaving stable home and best group of friends I have ever known, etc. The strong winds blow over and over in this life. During those times of trial, you realize in a raw an tangible way that there is nothing secure except our Lord. No college education, job, family situation, no relationship, no lifestyle. Absolutely nothing, including our next breath is guaranteed us. Strangely we realize these things in times of trial, but when life gets good again, our minds shroud this truth of great importance. We start relying on our own abilities, and what our own hands have made.
Lord, make my heart ever aware that you are the only thing in this life that is faithful, sure and true.