Waking up earlier, on purpose, it was still dark outside. Taking coffee to the place that always starts my mornings I wondered, ‘Do I read my Bible first or check the weather report?’ It’s not a question that often comes. But then, neither do hurricanes! Since there is a statistically probable chance one may come, I decided It best to be open to God’s directive by first knowing what I’m facing!

For the first time in years, the thought hit me yesterday to dig out the plywood to cover the windows. Where it came from I can’t be certain… but it came. Looking at the weather and praying my heart out in faith had not changed the direction of the predicted storm… as I had believed. God’s hand HAS moved bigger storms than this away from us. But so far… not yet. So the plywood thought occurred!

Both life and Scouting have taught me the importance of being prepared in the wake of any kind of difficulty. Faith, being neither blind nor stupid, requires evaluation! Simply saying, “eh… it’ll be fine,” does not make it so and Scripture never gives awards for leaping off the cliffs of life without first evaluating what, when, why and how! FACTS, ‘a hurricane is on the way, I have plywood… put it up!’

Fear is something I don’t do very well. The Master of my life has told me, through His Word, to NOT fear, so I actively work on trusting Him. While I know that there is NO verse in the Bible that says, ‘God helps those that help themselves.’ Neither is there a verse that says, ‘Just have Faith and life will be smooth!’ After all, Noah had to build the ark! It took him, and God’s patience, 100 years to do so.

Like Paul, I am supposed to live my life in Christ as an example to follow. That means being careful what I do because people are watching. So if there are folks watching me today, I want them to see me praying in Faith that my God will move the Storm away, but see me preparing as if He won’t! Either way, He remains the quiet in the midst of all my storms!