We often quote those words, or the phrase “God is good,” in responding to either an ordinary evidence of His grace in our daily lives or an extraordinary example of His providential provision on our pilgrimage from here to eternity. Yes, “God is good!”
I had the opportunity of preaching this past Lord’s Day in two different churches, and my text was I Peter 3:8. Peter exhorts the “strangers scattered” to whom he addressed this “general epistle” to “be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be piteous, be courteous.”
In the wake of possibly the most destructive hurricane that has ever moved over land in our nation’s history, known as Helene, it was timely that the text for these messages touched on such practical and pertinent subjects as compassion, loving the brethren, and being merciful or piteous.
A member of our home church had traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, a few days before the hurricane hit northwestern North Carolina with ferocious fury. He had gone there to visit his elderly mother who had been hospitalized. He and his wife had driven down from Indiana, and his wife drove back with the understanding that he would fly home later.
Well, he was there on the last Thursday and Friday of September when the hurricane moved through the mountainous region of northwestern North Carolina, leaving an unprecedented and indescribable path of destruction. Electric power was off; cell phones were without any connections; travel was hazardous and very limited, with no highways in or out of Asheville passable for the first few days. Our TRBC deacon was stranded at his motel but could not contact anyone; there was no water, nothing. The room he had stayed in for one night was booked for the next night, so he had to vacate. Thankfully, his wife had made a reservation for him at a nearby motel, which he was able to walk to. Reaching it, he found a long line of stranded travelers waiting to get lodging. He was blessed to have a reservation there, so he was assigned a room and given a key to it—yet there was no power, no water, nothing. He asked hotel personnel how far it was to the hospital where his mother was, and he was flatly told he could walk nowhere.
He was able to get a ride to the airport, believing and hoping that he might be better off there. Our friend—a physician and successful professional for many years—confessed that at this point he was at “the lowest point of my life.” He never travels with cash, yet there probably was nothing he could have purchased anyway. No Uber service was available. He said, though, that he never felt like God was not with him and was going to take care of him, as he whispered many times, “Lord, please help me.” After several hours at the airport, helpless but not hopeless, a man on the tarmac was able to get a cell phone connection in a very limited area and generously offered to let anyone who needed to make a call do so. Our deacon called his wife, assured her that he was safe, and apprised her of the situation. Another friend later made it from Greenville, SC to Asheville—navigating around make-shift detours and fallen trees—and took the doctor from the airport to the hospital where his mother was. He would spend the next several days sleeping on the floor of her room, in a place with no water, no plumbing that was in operation, no food to speak of, and for days no coffee!!
On another glad day, while he was stranded in the hospital, a couple of Bob Jones University students—a brother and sister, members of his home church in Indy—made it up to Asheville, bringing him some staples, a change of clothes, and, yes, a cup of coffee!
In sharing his story, our beloved physician, a committed believer, said he was able to visit with many people who were in the same situation. He would listen to their distressful accounts of tragic losses and would ask, “May I pray for you?” I believe he said that, without exception, no one turned down the offer for prayer.
While we watched with horror the aftermath of Helene on our televisions, the doc did not have access to those visual accounts. But, he knew there had been catastrophic damage and that he was experiencing a test the likes of which he had never known. Through the worst of his time there, he testified that he always had the assurance that God was with him and would bring him through. And, one day this past weekend, a fellow church member here in Indianapolis drove down to Asheville, packed up the doctor and his mother, and promptly turned his vehicle northward, returning him and his mother to his home in Hoosier land safely!
My wife has loved ones in North Carolina. Many were impacted by the hurricane, but none lost their home. It proved an opportunity for many to be merciful and compassionate toward those who had lost everything. It has touched millions of lives. Thankfully, there are numbers of non-profits, ministries, organizations, and just caring individuals who are responding with whatever resources they can get to these dear people. We have followed the events in North Carolina carefully because of Ellen’s family there, but we are also deeply concerned for those in other states that were hit hard by Helene. And, yes, now our hearts are heavy for the dear folk in Florida who are bracing, at the time of this writing, for the second major hurricane there within a two-week period, Milton. We pray earnestly for all the people in any of these locales—in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and elsewhere—impacted by these storms
One reliable non-profit that I can recommend is Operation Renewed Hope, directed by Rev. Jan Milton. He is a dedicated believer whose ministry has reached out to thousands, here at home and abroad. You can give through this venue, and rest assured that your gifts will be channeled to those in need—with integrity. Above all, PRAY!
“The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that are his.” (Nahum 1:7)
YOU and GOD 