“And
behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong
wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord,
but the Lord
was not in the wind; and after
the wind an earthquake, but the
Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord
was not in the fire; and after
the fire a still small voice.”
(1 Kings 19:11-12; New King James Bible Version (NKJV). “For in him we live, and move, and have our being;”
(Acts 17:28; King James Version (KJV). In the
last week, the United States has been ravaged by storms. The devastation from tornados and blinding
rain was widespread, particularly in the South.
Many lives were lost and so many homes have been destroyed by wind or
flood waters. In the midst of such
carnage, we often stand, stunned and speechless, as we witness the destruction
that has just affected so many people in our country. During the last few
years, these natural disasters seem to have multiplied, around the globe. And although people from outside the disaster
areas try to help and supply the needs of so many, such aid is less than
adequate to meet the needs of everyone afflicted. So, reliance upon other people to fill so
many needs has become less reliant; and those without resources such as power,
food, water, and shelter, often find themselves on their own. That is why it is a good
thing to remember that there is always another option…another Source to turn to
when human help is inadequate to fill our needs, both before and after nature’s
destructive activity. That ever-presence
Source is God…the infinite Spirit that is the Creator of all that actually
exists. The invisible presence of God is
the deliverer from all evil, or the results of whatever threatens us. And we are never really far from this
spiritual Presence and Power; for as the Bible says, “For in Him we live and move and have our being,”
(Acts 17:28 to comma; (NKJV). When we are facing any
destructive situation, it is wise to remember this divine Option; for it is
only our belief in the material sense of things as the only reality that
blinds us to the infinite Presence of Spirit, and our eternal safety in divine
Love’s creation. In other words, it is
our belief in physical, rather than spiritual being, that makes us cling to
the material evidence before our eyes, rather than remember our inner knowledge
of God’s spiritual creation, which is always with us. It is our false sense of materiality as our
reality that makes us feel we are victims of any material situation. God’s children are never victims in the
invisible kingdom of God, always at hand to be perceived. And whatever binds us to the seeming rule of
materiality is the falsity that brings fear and mental suffering during
physical disasters…not the temporary conditions of the disaster itself, for
this can be turned around and fixed through our trust in the ever-presence and
divine Control of the Almighty, despite all appearances to the contrary. The invisible Presence
of God is the Source of all good; and this Source has never stopped supplying
all good (whatever and whenever needed) to Its children (those who comprehend
the spiritual, rather than material reality of their own being). Yet, even as spectators, we are often pulled
into the illusion of devastation that seems impossible to remedy. We often watch such events on TV, giving the
horror a reality of power it really does not have; and we aren’t even in the
disaster experience itself. Well, last night, for
the second time in our lives, my husband and I were a part of the tornado
experience; and, coincidentally, both times it happened on the same highway in
Mississippi. It was like repeating a
scene out of our past. Both events occurred
suddenly, in the dark of night, but the first time occurred a year or two
earlier. So, last night we were traveling
the same route home to Illinois after a short vacation in Florida, only to find
that we were in the path of several tornados that were raging across Mississippi
and Alabama. We naively thought that,
this time, we might be able to outrun the predictions of dangerous weather that
were sweeping across the South. We were
wrong. First
the rain started, like the other rainstorm.
Then it began to escalate and pound upon the car, gushing water so fast
we couldn’t see the road. Having
experienced that first brush with a tornado, we just inched ahead, trying to
see the road. Soon, there was a gas
station and McDonald’s restaurant that we could see because they were lit up
brightly. So, we crept our way to their
location. Both were closed, but there
were people in McDonald’s, and they quickly opened their locked doors to let us
in. Several
other people were taking refuge inside, also, and soon the tornado sirens began
screeching for at least a half hour.
When they stopped for a few minutes, my husband and I tried to decide
what to do…should we stay or try to press on, hopefully finding a motel for the
night? The restaurant was going to close
up as soon as the storm abated, so we needed to do something. Suddenly
I realized how mesmerized I’d been by the whole drama. Where was my faith in God’s presence and
protection? We had made it through the
first tornado once, surely we would do it again. I knew I had to clear my mind of all fear,
and remember that the invisible presence of God is always with us, despite all
appearances to the contrary. I would be
still and try to hear that ‘still, small voice’ within, to tell us what to do. Within seconds, it came
to my thought that although we didn’t know what to do, or what course to take,
God did
know. I felt a sense of peace come over
me, and suddenly another thought came: my
husband’s Ipad was out in the car. We could
retrieve it and find the weather picture we needed to see, concerning our current
location. Maybe that would help us know what to do. So, as any good wife would do, I sent my
husband out into the rain, to retrieve the Ipad from the car. J The
Ipad picture showed that the center of the storm had split into two, large
cells leaving a narrow section of green, which signified only rain ahead on the
highway we were traveling. If we left
right away, we could probably make it through that green path, until the center
of the storm (yellow, red, and pink areas shown on screen) united again, as it
appeared to be trying to do. We
both studied the images on the Ipad for just a couple moments and decided to
risk it. As the sirens still screeched through
the night again, we thanked the McDonald people for letting us inside. Then we left amidst the wind and rain,
knowing that our way out had been revealed.
We drove through the green path, as shown on the screen, and we kept
moving north until the rain soon ceased altogether. It worked like a charm,
but not because we were so clever. It
worked because the infinite Creator perceives everything in Its own creation
and therefore, always knows our escape routes.
We were shown to go to the Ipad for the safe pathway home. We couldn’t have known of that particular
pathway out of that particular storm, but God can see around corners. Our sight is limited. The divine Sight is unlimited. Fortunately, listening
for that divine voice from within us always
delivers us from our human ignorance and limited perception. When we pray for the divine guidance we need,
and then TRUST it when a way comes to our thoughts, we then take the right
actions we need to take to be delivered from our human troubles. When
we are hypnotized by the material world around us, we are deaf, dumb and blind
to the ever-present, quiet voice of God, giving us the delivering answer we
need in order to adjust our actions.
When we ignore God’s ever-presence, we blind ourselves and cover our
ears to the mental communications from the divine Mind that is with us all. This inner, spiritual consciousness is often
termed, the Christ Consciousness, and it is universal. When we turn to this innate Christ
Consciousness within, we connect to God; and no one is without this divine,
innate consciousness within, nor without the ability to communicate with
it. So,
while the earth around us may roll and rumble, burn or flood, we are still,
really, in the invisible kingdom of God of which there is no end. In this ever-present, spiritual kingdom of
God, we’re always able to find our path of safety and goodness. For, God’s own children do not exist in a
finite, material creation. We really exist
in the spiritual kingdom of God, not of this world, yet here, where the outer
world of material form seems to exist as our reality, but is not our true
reality. That’s as good as it gets. But, next time we take a vacation in Florida,
I’m going to pray before we drive
through Mississippi. |
