God’s Peace Amid Irma’s Fury

God’s Peace Amid Irma’s Fury

I ended my last post with these exact words,

"I hope to have power to be able to come back on my usual Wednesday post and update after we have "weathered" this storm."

And I'm so glad to be here to give an update!

Yes, Hurricane Irma came to visit us in Central Florida.

Let me

just say

that Irma

was NO lady!

She did not politely knock, ring the door bell or even introduce herself! She just barged right on in and proceeded for hours on end to spew her wind and rain all over the place!

Up until she rudely interrupted us, Brian and I were comfortably settled in our living room switching back and forth from watching the latest weather updates to watching old reruns!

At this point we were still under the impression Irma was going to hit down around the Florida Keys, then proceed to ride up the Western coast of Florida impacting us with possible tropical storm force winds maybe for a few hours!

WRONG!

Irma was a hurricane who DEFINITELY had a difficult time making up her mind!

Kind of like myself when Brian asks where I'd like to go on our truck date and I must choose between several different places. We start out in one direction, then I change my mind mid-stream, so we quickly head in a totally different direction. That's EXACTLY what Irma did!

She slammed into The Lower Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane, then made landfall, once again, in Naples and Marco Island with winds of 142 miles per hour! 

However, instead of riding up the Western Coast as predicted, she decided at the last-minute it would be much more fun to trek right on up into the center of Florida! Right into where we live! 

Winds were clocked at 92 mph here in the Clermont area!

YES, to say I was a bit "unnerved" is quite the understatement especially coming from the lady who doesn't even care for the almost daily summertime Florida afternoon thunderstorms!

BUT, at the same time I had peace, and I can say without a doubt it was the peace that can ONLY come from the Lord! 

I kept repeating to myself this simple but very POWERFUL verse,

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."
Psalm 53:3

When our INSIDE patio doors began to shake around 1:15, I decided it was time to head to the closet! 

We didn't realize, until our neighbors recently told us, that when our house was built many years ago, the closet in the master bedroom was actually built as a storm shelter!

The eye wall hit our area around 1:30 a.m. and lasted a little over one hour. It sure felt MUCH longer than that!

The winds howled and gusted ALL morning long, up until around noon!

We praise the Lord we did not lose our power, which is a huge answer to prayer, because due to my illness, I don't handle the heat nor the dark very well.

We have tree limbs down, tree debris scattered throughout our yard, and will need a new roof due to loss of shingles.

Others did not fare as well. As I write this, many are still without power and had substantial damage done to their homes.  

People may ask,

"If God is so good and in control of all things then why would He allow something like this to happen?"

My answer,

"I don't have an answer to that question!"

All I can really say is the BEST way to be prepared for a hurricane or any major disaster, or for that fact, the next day of your life, or let me break it down even more, your next breath, is to know Jesus as your personal Saviour.

We never know about tomorrow.

We need to be ready to go out into eternity at any given moment. 

As I was growing up, I knew about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I knew Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world BUT I never made it personal. I just couldn't see myself as a sinner needing a Saviour!

I never did anything "that bad" which would label me a sinner in my own mind. I was a good and kind person, so how could I be a sinner?

The Bible teaches that we are ALL sinners and that one sin is just as bad as another sin.

But there is no sin so great that it cannot be forgiven.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Romans 3:23

None of us can measure up to the Lord's standard of holiness and that is why we NEED Jesus to be our Saviour.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
John 14:6

If being a good person, giving to the poor or even attending church could have forgiven us of our sins, God would have NEVER sent His only Son to the cross to die. But God loves us so much that He wants us to be with Him in Heaven forever and the ONLY way that was possible was for His perfect, sinless Son to die on the cross and to rise again the third day.

And I, for one, am SO VERY THANKFUL that He did. Jesus not only took the punishment for my sins and opened the way for me to be with Him in Heaven one day for all eternity, but as my Saviour, He is with me every single moment of every single day, and for that I can never thank Him enough!

Trusting Christ as your personal Saviour is so very simple.

It's just a matter of realizing that Jesus died, was buried and rose again for YOU. If you had been the only person living at the time, Jesus still would have died just for YOU because He loves YOU that much and wants YOU to be forgiven of YOUR sins and spend eternity in HEAVEN with HIM.

You simply pray and ask Jesus to be your personal Saviour. But please remember it's NOT the prayer that saves you, it's your FAITH in Jesus that saves you!

You could pray something like this,
"Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus shed His precious blood and died for my sins and rose again the third day. I am placing my faith in Jesus and Jesus alone to forgive me. I now invite Jesus to come into my life as my personal Saviour, Amen." 

It’s that simple

If you have any questions or would like more information about trusting Jesus as your personal Saviour, PLEASE don't hesitate to contact me at barb@castingyourcare.org. If I don't have an answer for you, I promise to get you one from a very reliable source.

"The Gospel
is not
good advice
to be obeyed,
it is
good news

to be believed."
quote by Harry Ironside

The following song has recently become my favorite "go to" song. It has gotten me through some very rough days with my chronic illness, and most recently got me through Hurricane Irma!

 


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May God Bless You,

Barb

4 Comments

  • Kelly

    September 13, 2017 at 1:36 pm Reply

    Thank you so much Barb. I prayed so hard for you and Brian and all of Florida.
    God is in control and he helped you during the storm.

    • Barb

      September 13, 2017 at 11:30 pm Reply

      Kelly, Brian and I can't thank you enough for your prayers for us during Hurricane Irma. Trust me, we could definitely feel all the prayers, that was the only way I was able to have peace!
      It was bad here where we live, but it could have been SO much worse. God showed us GREAT mercy.
      Love and appreciate you my sweet friend ♡♡♡

  • Linda

    September 14, 2017 at 10:42 pm Reply

    Wonderful that you didn't lose power, Barb! How each one of us is so reliant on it! A lot of prayer went up over recent weeks for those in the path of both Harvey and Irma. Although many are still in clean up mode, many not returned to their homes yet with all the disruptions involved, it's been good to read of the caring for one another that has been, and still is, going on.
    Love your quote in this post from Harry Ironside (his name is not familiar to me, so I'll have to google it to find out more! Love your music clip too - I only recently stumbled across Voices of Lee, and this particular song is one of my favourites.
    Think of you often, and wish the ocean wasn't as wide, but I send love and hugs to you.❤️❤️

    • Barb

      September 15, 2017 at 11:50 am Reply

      Yes, I'm still praising the Lord that we did not lose power but fervently praying for those in our area who are still without power and running water. Such things we all take for granted.
      I, too, just discovered The Voices of Lee! I so enjoy Accapella music!
      Oh, how I too wish that the ocean was not so wide cause I sure could use an "in person" hug ❤
      But knowing your loving and hugging me from afar is a GREAT blessing.
      Love and appreciate you me very special friend ❤❤❤

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