Quick reflections on Hurricane Milton

Speaker 1: In this episode of Balancing the Christian Life, we talk about trusting God in a hurricane. Welcome to Balancing the Christian Life. I'm Dr Kenny Embry. Join me as we discover how to be better Christians and people in the digital age. To start off, answering the question I have answered dozens of times we're fine. As Floridians, we get used to hurricane warnings. Tampa Bay, where I am, hasn't been widely affected by a hurricane in over 100 years. Well, with Hurricane Milton, that changed. Most severe weather stays off the coast or devastates beachfront property. Katie and I have never been wealthy enough to worry about getting a lot of damage. We live about 35 miles inland, which is too far for hurricanes like Colleen or Irma or several others to reach, but as the projections kept coming in, I knew we weren't going to dodge this storm. About seven years ago in 2017, I convinced Katie to evacuate from Hurricane Irma. When we returned a few days later, our house hadn't even lost power, much less any damage . In the time since, she's reminded me, most of Tampa is never in real danger, but this time I looked at her and said look, I feel pretty confident. We will probably be okay if we stay, but I know we'll be okay if we leave. She didn't want to leave, but when I said that she simply asked how soon I wanted to go Could we leave in an hour? She sent a couple of text messages to line up our accommodations and within 45 minutes we were on the road. Katie and I will probably always have this disagreement, which I appreciate. She makes me slow down long enough to reconsider my decisions and often I go with her gut, but this time she knew I wouldn't let her win. I appreciate that about her. I posted something online saying we needed to postpone our conference. Everyone was understanding and nobody disagreed with that call. When I posted the postponement on Facebook, I reminded everyone God was in control and asking for his blessing. Then we got in the car and headed for the panhandle. We saw my daughter and her husband, spent some time with his family and checked on the house occasionally with the cameras we had installed a few years ago. When we got back home two days later, we lost a couple of trees . The power was out for about a day, but otherwise the damage was minimal. But we only had to look a neighborhood over to see roads gone, houses flooded and people who needed help. Many lost so much, while we were largely spared. I've got good friends who no longer have a house. I have other friends whose entire first floor is basically flooded. If you ask Christians, some might say we were blessed, we dodged a bullet and undoubtedly that meant God had our back. But I'm not sure. I believe that. I don't know if God meant to keep us from suffering while our neighbors weren't blessed because they lost so much. When you put it like that, I don't think anybody would say because we didn't sustain a lot of property damage, god was on our side. Look, that was the argument of Job's friends. Job was only suffering because he had done something terrible. But we already know that's not what was going on. So let me draw a few conclusions from being in a hurricane. First, one of the true blessings of Hurricane Milton has been finding ways to make a difference to others. For years I've ended every podcast with be good and do good . Christianity includes both character and behavior. At times like this, christians do good stuff. In James we're told that true religion includes helping people who need help. Specifically it calls out widows and orphans. But Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, tells us plainly a Christian's responsibility is to help people he can help. I've reached out to some friends and people nearby and pitched in where I could, but I'm not interested in talking about me. Let me challenge you with the same challenge God does. What will you do to help? And please don't wait for a government agency or group of elders or a neighborhood program to do the work for you. If you have friends in Tampa, reach out to those friends and help them. It can be money, but the needs of hurting people aren't just cash. It can include interest, a prayer, a meal, an encouraging word. It doesn't need to lower your bank account one cent, but it does need to help someone else in a way that others know. Christians have been here. I know I'm taking advantage of this tragedy because this literally hits home for me, but Christians change things for the better. They don't just admire those who take action. No-transcript, christians aren't bystanders, they are participants. So what specifically will you do to help? Second, where do you see God? For as long as God has had followers, his followers have suffered. Righteous Jews suffered, christians suffered, abel suffered, abraham suffered, righteous Jews suffered, christians suffered, Abel suffered, abraham suffered, elijah suffered, ezekiel suffered, john the Baptist suffered, jesus suffered. At every time, people who love God keep suffering, sometimes because they are being righteous , sometimes because of something not their fault and sometimes because they were doing something stupid. David suffered both because he was innocent and because he was guilty. But what did he do with that suffering? When he was being pursued by Saul, david trusted God. When he was convicted by Nathan for cheating with Bathsheba and killing her husband, david came back to God. When he was being pursued by his son, absalom, david again trusted God, no matter what the problem was or what bonehead was making life difficult. David turned that into a better relationship with God. James 1.12 says blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Good, righteous, good righteous people were hurt by Hurricane Milton, as well as atheists and people of every religious persuasion. Suffering is everywhere, mostly because weakness is everywhere is everywhere, mostly because weakness is everywhere. We couldn't keep Hurricane Milton from coming to Tampa, much as we couldn't keep Helene from North Carolina or any other tragedy from happening. But because we do suffer, because we are powerless, it should help us recognize who has real power. Look, there are many things you should remember. First, god is in control of all weather and the outcome of all weather. Sometimes God calms the storm and sometimes God calms his children. I was listening to an interview with a popular conservative talk show host and in the course of the conversation he talked about being bullied as a child. He was a scrawny kid who was easy to pick on. The person interviewing him asked how that affected him and he talked about the positive lessons he learned. He would write elsewhere about this quote. No child should have to be bullied and if someone ever tries to bully my kids I'll step in with the full range of possibilities at my disposal. But being bullied can have two possible effects you can learn to stand up and cope, or you learn to identify as a victim. If you can hold your head up high even while you're being bullied, you're likely to live a stronger, happier, fuller life. You'll be able to better deal with the vicissitudes life has to offer. We should also worry about how victims treat their victimhood and how they can turn that victimhood into strength for the long haul. Again, in violent weather and in violent relationships, god is in control. He's stronger than any storm. He's stronger than any bully. He is bigger than any problem we have. But the second thing to remember is the one with all the power has an unending love and concern for you. God knows we're in a storm. He knows we suffer. Christians, at all times and in all suffering, find the strength and love of God. Finally, storms help us see what's really important. My wife still thinks we should have stayed in Tampa. She always will. I know. When there's another storm she will remind me about this one. But during this crisis I learned again that when it was important to me that we leave, katie had a bad pact and was out the door within the hour. When we disagreed, she supported me because she loves me. Yes, I think she's wrong. I think we were better off leaving. Sometimes she wins the fights and sometimes I do, but if she wins or I win, ultimately it's not that important. What is important is when a decision is made, we've got our bags packed. We may be pulling together a plan B, but we are together. As I watched the wind out the window five hours away through my phone, I was safe with my wife and children. The people I loved were safe and near. The house is nice, but it's replaceable. Relationships are always more important than things, and that's a pretty easy lesson to learn. But even those important relationships are only shadows of the relationship. That makes the others pale in comparison. James 1.17 says Every good and perfect gift is from above. The relationship we have with God isn't affected by Hurricane Milton, but it's a good reminder At a time when people have lost so much. God calls us to be grateful. He calls us to be grateful. He calls us to be helpful. He calls us to let go of things not worth holding on to because ultimately they aren't all that important. We have some work to do because of Hurricane Milton, but it could have been worse. But it could have been worse. It's important to remember that God has now given us an opportunity to act like Christians. God reminded us he is all-powerful and all-loving and he has helped us to see once more some things are simply not very important, even when they feel like it. So, yes, we weathered Hurricane Milton just fine Last week. Ironically, the day before we evacuated to be out of Milton's path, I spoke with Keith Stonehart about what sin is and why it's a big deal. I also still have an interview with Andrew Roberts about worshiping God with song. We'll get to that. But in the meantime, pray for people who have been affected by the tragedies that we've all watched. Help them, and if you can think of a way that I can help them, please get in touch with me. I'm happy to do what I can help them. Please get in touch with me. I'm happy to do what I can. We are all stronger because of this. It's not fun, but it is important and it is strengthening. So until next time, let's be good and do good.