Unexpected Damage

This Morning I had the opportunity to visit a Baptist Church in a local near us. They had recently completed a beautiful renovation of both the outside and inside of the church. They had spent thousands of dollars in painting, pews, new roof and other items that made the church building a beautiful thing to look at. But when I got inside the pastor took me on a tour of the recent devastation to all their work.

Three nights ago a thunderstorm blew in and dropped almost three inches of rain in a very short period. Along with the much needed rain came very strong winds blowing the water sideways.

As beautiful as the building was and with all the money spent on the construction it became obvious that some of the flashing was not installed correctly and the wind lifted it up and allowed a large amount of rain to blow in. This water then ran down the rafters of the roof and poured onto the sanctuary ceiling. The water pooled until it soaked the sheetrock and became heavy enough to break through.

Now the beautiful sanctuary has large holes cut in the ceiling with fans tied all over the attic to blow the moisture out and dry the area so repairs can be made.

I thought how true this is of our own lives. We can often build very impressive bodies through exercise, make-up, surgery and sometimes just a false attitude. But in many cases unless we take care we will allow spots to be exposed that when the storms of life hit us those troubles will be blown in and cause great damage.

David King of the Israelites knew this danger. Often he relied on his own strength and was beaten by his own sin. However there were times when his faith in his God was extraordinary and his realization on his need for God’s strength was clear. In Psalms 91:4 David acknowledges his reliance on God when he says: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

Like that local Baptist Church we can trust in our own ability to keep the storms out, but through prayer and study of God’s Word we are much more likely to properly provide the protection need to head off many of the damage life’s storms can bring.