There’s got to be a morning after…come on sing with me…
It is late morning after the storm… that is, twelve years ago, the morning after Hurrricane Rita crashed into my world…the sun is shining… the birds are singing…
Wait, there are no birds…
This is part of my recollection of what happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita crashing into my world…
I found it strange that after the storm, there were no birds… perhaps, they are smarter than we are and they evacuated…this is another eerie thing about hurricanes… nature abandons the storm…
In time, we would note other anomalies in nature… flowers and bedding plants became confused… we were in “fall” yet, shortly after the storm things seem to begin to bloom out of season…
If you are like me, I watched endless coverage of Hurricane Harvey coming ashore… three times…I prayed God’s mercy on those in the midst of the storm…and, I remembered…I remembered my own circumstances, twelve years ago…while there are commonalities, each experience and circumstance is unique…and, each has colored and flavored our lives since…some bitter…some sweet…
For example, I remember the shock and horror of the tree that crashed through the roof of my house…
…and, I remember God placing God’s hand on me, shortly thereafter, and assuring me that “All shall be well…”
There are many more examples, I imagine that you have your own…just like the notion that there were no birds singing and flowers bloomed out of season.
Has anyone ever given you a Bible verse? You know what I mean…there you are in the middle of something called “life” and a friend says, “I have a Bible verse for you…”
This happened to me…long before I became a “preacher,” a friend “gave/shared” a Bible verse to/with me during a difficult time in my life. Now, let me clarify, whatever the difficulty of that time, there would be far more difficult times ahead.
This particular Bible verse wasn’t in the Book of Job, a book I would come to know and hold very close to my heart; nor, was the verse from the Psalms, the writings of which more than 30% are rife with lament; nor, was the verse from my favorite Gospel, John; no, this verse was from a writing of a “minor prophet” of the Old Testament, the Prophet Habakkuk.
The verse? Habakkuk 3:17-19:
Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls,
even though, I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights.
(NRSV, emphasis added)
Since that time, more than 30 years ago, this has been my “go to” verse…it was cross-stitched by a friend and hangs in my office today…it was my verse on the night that that tree crashed into my world…so many nights…so many experiences…I call it my “Even in the midst of the storm” verse.
It is my prayer that each one who has been affected by this storm, knows that “even in the midst of the storm” God is there…and, not only there…but, ahead in the recovery and rebuilding of his or her life…
Remember: It’s always good when you can hear the birds start singing, again.
Blessings,
rev. tracy
revtlmack 