The tornado stayed on the ground for fifty miles.

Tornadoes are not uncommon in our area, and are familiarities in many places across the United States.  However, the pitiless storms often touch ground and ascend.  Not so the mid-state Tennessee disaster.  And there was nowhere to hide.  You can’t escape unpredictability.

People died and valuable property reduced to rubble.  Lifetimes of work disappeared in moments.  The loss was breathtaking and heartbreaking to the many untouched by the storm.  The affected were crushed.  Some literally.

We never know.  Though oft repeated, it doesn’t make much difference in normal living.  Days pass in familiar fashion, and lives are lived on the plain of mediocrity counting on regularity.  For the most part, the ordinary is the drill.  Had we known when the thief would come, we would have been prepared.

After fifty-eight years together, a man and woman died side-by-side.  A two year old was deprived the living.  Sirens sounded too late.  They could not be heard in our neighborhood as   wind blows away distant voices.

It has been heartening to see the outpouring of wealth and aid amidst the devastation.  Thousands of man hours have joined millions of dollars in only the beginnings of restoration.  Yet, there will be a redistribution of resources and a recouping of fractions by the most concerned.  With so much to do, it’s hard to decide what to do.

This misery received unwelcomed company.  The counterbalance to goodness, a criminal element has further victimized the traumatized.  Scripture tells us the sordid deeds of men are done in the dark, and it would be difficult to imagine a night more black than this.  Will the sun rise again?

Jesus told us that calamity is ever present and affirmed the seeming random nature of pain.  The best we can say is that life is uneven.  We never know when our hour may come as travail on a woman with child.

In considering cruel time and chance, we also understand our Lord said that even the misfortunes of life could reveal the glory of God.  When the black train of despair rolls through your reality, realize that God knows where you are and foresaw the calamity.  He did not spare His own Son from the cross in favor of the eternal purpose, and God has greater goals for you than the temporary trials Paul referred to as “light affliction.”  I know from experience that it does not seem so in the moment.

Devastated and confused, Job clung to his hope in God.  He had no Bible or understanding of Jesus and the redemptive plan, but Job laid hold of the Almighty by faith.  Job did not know that he was at the center of a celestial contest which end would immortalize him and give hope to uncounted multitudes.  When nothing was left of his life or pride, God spoke to Job out of the storm (38:1).

It is the same for you and me.  The noise of life and the glitter of possessions deafen and blind us to the work of God.  Every believer must sorrow with others and lend aid when trouble comes, personally affected or not.  At such times, we should also listen for the voice from heaven.

Sterl