Last Friday night/ Saturday morning hurricane Ike roared through Houston-Galveston, etc. leaving a path of destruction and broken hearts in it’s wake. You’ve heard the news so I won’t rehash the details. I’m sure we will hear more stories for months to come and folks will still be talking about Ike long after we are dead and gone. The question that comes to my mind is—what will we learn from this experience?
I read about a preacher who said that trials are like a washing machine—“You have to let the machine run its course in order for the clothes to be completely cleaned. No matter how badly you feel for the clothes as you watch them being spun around, soaked, and covered in soap, you don’t remove them from the machine until all the cycles are through.”
That’s a good analogy. Life is rough and tough. We all find ourselves in situations we wish we could have avoided or that we could escape from. The problem is –we ain’t running the show! Regardless of how hard we try there are some things that we can’t control or change. We are forced to go through the various cycles until the mission is accomplished. Although we don’t always understand exactly how God will use our trials, we have the blessed assurance that He, who is all wise and ever loving, has a plan. Ephesians 1:11 tells us that God “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” So when your world is turned up-side down and you are being tossed about, battered and bruised, seemingly without reason, just remember God is in control and He has a good purpose for your trials. Think about it!
—David Stone 9/17/2008
