DEVOTION
Lord Over the Flood
By Gene Markland
CBN Staff Writer
CBN.com
- I was watching the CBN News coverage of the flooding in the mid-west and was stunned by the devastation. Like many of you, my heart grieves for our neighbors who have suffered such great losses. The rising waters have submerged whole towns, and as the camera shows us the neighborhoods, it seems like only the mailboxes perched on posts have remained unscathed.
A disaster such as this affects people in different ways. Most shall recover when the water recedes. Some have only suffered a minor inconvenience, while others have lost everything they own, homes and business washed away.
But there’s another kind of flood going on in our nation. People are living through disasters all around us. A mother struggles to support and feed her children while her husband serves a jail sentence. A devoted father and husband find himself in the hospital with cancer, and his wife struggles to pay the bills. Ultimately, their home of forty years and all their retirement savings are washed away in their own personal flood.
Good people are devastated and cry out to God. “All the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple” (Jonah 2:3-4 KJV)
Don’t give up! Whether you have experienced a flood of water, or a flood of bad circumstances, know that God cares. Don’t blame Him. Look again to His temple.
We live in a world of trouble and turmoil in which the righteous and the unrighteous are affected alike. God is not singling out you or your community. The world is a dangerous place. Know that God cares, and He will help you. “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever” (Psalm 29:10 NIV)
He is our source in times of trouble. He will give you strength to stand, wisdom to find a way, joy to sustain your soul, and peace to rest.
As Operation Blessing rises to action, helping those most hurt by these floods, so we who are unaffected must do likewise. But in addition to those whose only remaining possession is a mailbox on a post, we must aid the hurting neighbors all around us who are trying to survive a myriad of personal disasters, some who even lost the mailbox. With God’s help we can make it.
“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall raise a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19 KJV)
Become part of the standard that God raises for such a time as this. You may ask what you can do. Support disaster relief. Look at the mailboxes sticking up all around you in your own neighborhood or church. Many times your neighbor suffers silently and will not ask for help. Show them you care. Get involved. And for those who are hurting, the Lord over the flood sees you. Help is on the way!
Gene is a Partner Services Representative at CBN, has been in active ministry for more than thirty years. He resides in Virginia Beach with his wife Martha and daughter Laura.
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