Devotionals

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Have you ever been a recipient of disaster relief? Before you answer, consider what a disaster is…

Natural disasters come in many forms. Natures’ fury is demonstrated through floods and droughts, and damaging winds in hurricanes and tornadoes. Lightning is a primary cause of raging wild fires; and hail results in substantial damage. Earth quakes change the landscape and the fabric of lives. Brutal blizzards and ice storms leave many deaths as their proof of power. Avalanches and mud slides destroy homes and at times even villages. Seldom do we deal with volcanic eruption; but it is a disaster to fear. Where ever you live some dangers are lurking!


Hurricane Katrina revealed that in a disaster we can not be totally prepared. Residents along the Gulf Coast could not imagine in their worst nightmares what destruction would come! The people of Mississippi and Louisiana now view time elements not according to a calendar, but by the descriptive phrase, “before or after Katrina!”

My husband is a truck driver and I traveled with him across country for several years. We were witnesses to Katrina’s’ aftermath. I will not even try to describe it; no adjectives could even come close. Viewing with your own eyes sights similar to destruction created by an atomic bomb leaves a person numb. We were allowed in to the city of New Orleans with emergency supplies. To see a city brought to its knees brings a fresh reminder that our source of strength is down on our knees in prayer.

At a truck stop checking my e-mail in the phone area I over heard a conversation between a truck driver and his wife. He carried a load of bottled water, one of the most critical needs following any disaster. He shared with his wife the news that outside, his truck had the security and protection of an armed policeman! The officials feared robbery and mob rule in mans’ self preservation instincts! The shipment of fresh water held the value of an armored truck carrying gold bullion!

911 will leave permanent scars upon the cities of New York and Washington D.C., as well as a rural area in Pennsylvania. We drove through New York City only days after and smoke still lingered in the air. Those scars may fade with time; but the disaster wounds on our people will remain. We are vulnerable. We could not protect our own!

Storms are not the only disasters that reshape our lives. Our economic crisis is a calamity to individuals, families, businesses, ministries, cities, and nations. Personally disasters overwhelm us in the form of lost jobs, broken homes, addictions, a terminal illness, foreclosure of a home, eviction of a family farm, or the loss of loved ones from accidents or death. We can not cope with a disaster in our own natural strength.

Have you received disaster relief? It is offered to all; but many turn away from the source of all relief. He hopes we will open our hearts door and invite Him in. He is offering to us today that critical need following a disaster; He gives the Living water! He met a woman with an unquenchable thirst and told her the water she drew could not satisfy! “Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:13-14 NAS).”

The Lord sees every misfortune and He understands. He died for mans’ worst natural disaster, sin.

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