Read Psalm 107:23-32
My mother was frantically calling my dad on our rotary dial phone on the table in the hallway. My six-year-old self and my little sister ran to her and clung to her skirt. We heard it on the radio. Hurricane Hazel w, as turning inland, headed toward our little town in North Carolina. We were so afraid, and we had every right to be.
It turns out that Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest, the costliest, and the most intense storm of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. Before hitting the United States, this hurricane killed at least 469 people in Haiti. Hazel traveled on from Haiti as a Category 4 storm, wreaking havoc along the North Carolina coastline and then headed to Canada. In all, at least 176 people in the U.S. and Canada lost their lives to Hazel. Because of that, the name Hazel was retired from the list of names for North Atlantic Hurricanes.
My sister and I could not comprehend at that moment in the hallway the devastation that would come in the path of that huge storm. What we did know was that our dad could not make it home to keep us safe, that our mother was scared, that the wind was blowing against our white-shingled house, and the sound of it was horrible. Then there was another horrifying sound….a big bang….as the radio tower a few blocks from our house toppled to the ground with a crash. Hazel did her damage and moved elsewhere to do some more. Calm returned to our neighborhood as we peeked out the windows to see what damage had been done.
Similarly, COVID-19 stormed its way into our formerly sheltered lives. We heard the reports of deaths in China from an unidentified virus. So many people died. So much damage was done. But China was so far away, and our lives were scarcely affected. Then the virus moved on to place after place after place, leaving in its wake mounting numbers of deaths. We trembled at the thought of it reaching us, but did we really think it would? It did, and we began frantically calling for help.
We knew where to turn for help. Our Creator God was in control. The One Who made the heavens and the earth could take care of us. There is not storm he couldn’t get through to rescue His children, When we were up to our necks in the middle of this virus, God was there to save us, to protect us, to calm our fears, to bring us through the storm and back into the stillness of His presence.
Father, this COVID-19 storm has been a bit unsetting for some of us. We have experienced the anxiety that comes with uncertainty of what the next day will bring, but You have been with us throughout this tumultuous time. You have never left us, and You never will. Thank You for the steadfastness of Your love and the comfort of Your Spirit. You are our Life Saver in the stormy weather. In the Name of Jesus, Amen!