"The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?"
Psalm 27:1
"For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock."
Psalm 27:5
"I would have lost heart,
unless I had believed
that I would see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Dear Friends...As I write this on Tuesday, September 5, 2017, we are anticipating and preparing for the possibility of a Category 5 Hurricane Irma to hit the southernmost part of our state (Florida) sometime on Friday of this week. Even though we live in the upper central part of the state, some four or five hours north of the expected impact zone, this storm is so huge and so powerful...and so unpredictable, that we must be prepared for hurricane force winds and rains to possibly head in our direction. We live about one hour east of the Gulf coast and one hour west of the Atlantic coast, so depending upon which way Irma travels either way we could experience her fury.
Therefore we are battening down the hatches, making sure we have plenty of emergency supplies on hand preparing for the worst. All the while, we are praying for the best. We are beseeching the Lord to redirect Irma's path away from our state and back out to sea...but based on what we see now it is looking more and more certain that many people are going to be seriously impacted by this storm. Even now as I write there are many folks down in the islands south of Florida...in Puerto Rico and possibly Cuba...who are experiencing this storm's fury right now. I pray for them now.
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We have all been watching the horrific devastation that Hurricane Harvey just unleashed on our dear friends in Texas and Louisiana last week...and that certainly has heightened our awareness of the kinds of difficulty and heartache that such a storm can cause in the lives of so many people at once. At this point all we can do is prepare...and pray...and wait!
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
and He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!"
Psalm 27:13-14
I am not "afraid" in the true terror sort of way...but I am very concerned for the safety and welfare of so many in the path of this storm. But because I know that the Lord will be with us even in the midst of this storm, I will trust in Him to keep us safe..and to "hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle"...until the storm passes by.
"Til The Storm Passes By"
In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face
While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place
'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry
Keep me safe till the storm passes by
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till the storm passes by
Many times Satan whispered, "There is no need to try
For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by"
But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise
Where the storms never darken the skies
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till the storm passes by
When the long night has ended and the storms come no more
Let me stand in Thy presence on the bright peaceful shore
In that land where the tempest, never comes, Lord, may I
Dwell with Thee when the storm passes by
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till the storm passes by
Songwriters: Thomas Mosie Lister
‘Til the Storm Passes By lyrics © Music Services, Inc
