The following was written by Isa Stewart (used with permission)
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing song of praise. JAMES 5:13
On Thursday morning during my horticulture lab, I got a call from my best friend. It was one of those calls that changes everything. I knew the flooding and blizzards around Nebraska were getting bad, but at this point it got personal. She called to tell me that her dad had gone missing in the tractor when the bridge went out two miles from their house.
My heart instantly sank and the tears started rushing down my face. Thankfully, I had a friend there to get me out of lab and back to my car so I could start making calls to my parents and close friends asking them all to pray. Through the tears and a heart heavy with fear, I kept praying to God to bring him home safely. That afternoon, my hope was shattered when I got the text from my best friend that they had found him. My prayers turned from “please let him be safe” to “Lord, why did this happen? I don’t understand.”
People in communities all across Nebraska long for this answer as we start cleaning up from this horrible devastation, try to get home to family with limited infrastructure to get there, and lay to rest an incredible, selfless man.
Through theses challenges, we have to continue to pray, praise, and give our lives to the Lord. It reminds me of a quote that was shared with me on Saturday, “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” We have to let these storms propel us closer to God. It’s hard when we don’t know how to make sense of this disaster, but unfortunately, we are going to have storms in our lives more than once. So we have to let the waves push us closer to God, and not pull us farther to sea.
Challenge:
What storms have you faced in your life that have either moved you closer or farther away from God? What can you do this week to get closer to God through prayer and praise?