God is a safe place to hide,

Ready to help when we need him.

We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,

Courageous in sea storm and earthquake,

Before the rush and roar of oceans,

And the tremors that shift mountains

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God of angel armies protects us. (Message Bible, Psalm 46:1-3)

Where is that shelter designated by God in which we can hide and ride

out the storm? It must be some kind of bunker so we would be absolutely

fearless in sight of doom and courageous in the fury of wind and wave.

The bunker is that bed-rock faith in a great God.

The Bible comforts believers who have weathered the storm and who face

future storms, "We know that God causes all things to work together

for good, to those who love God and called according to his purpose" (Romans

8:28). Though God does not bring every storm in life, he is ready to

translate the debris and destruction of the storm into a new direction

with new resources. As someone said it, "God can take the mess and

make it a message."

News reporters can only report a few deaths in the path of the massage

storm. Ever wondered why? God's angel armies were on the scene before

the National Guard. The dying words of John Wesley, the great Methodist

revivalist and hymn writer, were, "The best of all is, God is with

us."

Attention, all! See the marvels of God!

He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,

Bans war from pole to pole,

Breaks all the weapons across his knee.

"Step out of the traffic! Take a long,

Loving look at me, your High God,

Above politics, above everything."

Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,

God of angel armies protects us. (Message Bible, Psalm 46:8-11)

Florida has been the center of politics for several years now. Florida's

distinctives have been growing with its population: a divergent population,

home to Kennedy Space Center, fun capital for the eastern portion of

the United States. There's probably more "chatter" in

Florida than any other state of the union. In this wonderful Psalm, God

strongly suggests that we turn off our engines, get out of our noise,

and go someplace where we can take a good long look at him, the creator

of the universe.

God is the only one to whom we can turn to find comfort when our lives

have been turned upside down by a massive anything, even a storm. He

is the only one who can give comfort to Russian mothers and fathers wailing

in grief over the tragic deaths of hundreds of children. Those who turn

to God will find his peace; others will seek revenge to avenge the death

of their daughters and sons.

In the strange light of death and destruction, we can see through the

eyes of faith that there is a God who cares for us and fights for us,

who sends armies of angels to protect us. There we can find peace and

comfort. Enough peace and comfort so that we can begin to rebuild from

the ruins - whether those ruins are those of our dream home or a

child who was the apple of a father's eye.

Some people will decide to move out of Florida. I just hope they will

move into God's protective shelter.

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South

Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303

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