It has been said that we cannot control the wind, and the recent devastating hurricanes have proved this. We can, however, set the sail, and we can nest in the gale.

We cannot control the wind but we are in control of our response to it. Those who heeded the early warning signs of the coming storm were better prepared to ride it out than those who refused to believe it was coming when the sun was shining and all appeared to be fine. The storm was coming. People could either prepare for it or ignore it. It was coming just the same.

Those who evacuated, those who stored water, those who went down into the storm shelters to nest in the gale survived and lived to see the sun shine another day.

There is a powerful spiritual lesson for us to learn from the devastating hurricanes that have swept across Florida, Louisiana, and the island of Kauai.

We can prepare, we can set the sail, we can nest in the gale or we can ignore all the warnings and say ”Where is the promise of his (the storm’s) coming.” . . . All things continue as they were.”

It seems that more people believe the weather man’s predictions than they believe in the promise of the Son of God who has told us to prepare for his second coming.

The weather man is frequently wrong. The Lord never is. The storm that many thought would miss Kauai turned and hit it head on. Sometimes the reverse is true and the storm headed for land suddenly veers off and misses populated areas that were bracing for it.

The Lord is coming. We may not believe it. We may not live like we believe it, but he is coming. Are we setting our sail’? Are we willing to nest in the gale.” We sing, but do we believe, that tho ”the rough winds may wrestle, our God will perform, with Christ in the vessel, we smile at the storm.”

No doubt a great many people who have not prayed in years did pray for a few hours during the storms that struck Florida, Louisiana and Hawaii. Did they stop praying when the wind stopped blowing’?

Many people’s lives will never be the same again, although they did survive, the storm destroyed all their worldly possessions.

Our Saviour warned us to ”beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

Many people lost all their worldly possessions. Home, automobiles, keepsakes, all blown away and destroyed. It will eventually happen to every living person although they may never experience a hurricane or an earthquake. ”Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD taketh away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” This true statement of Job’s applies to all of us. Are we wise enough to believe it, and live like we believe it’?

We need to prepare before the wind blows, before the earth shakes, before the Lord comes. So many people live like there is no tomorrow and, perhaps for them, it is true. What about us? Are we seeking first the Kingdom of God?

In the days of our Lord, people paid more attention to the weather than they did to him. It is still true today. He told them, ”When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky if red and lowring. 0 ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; hut can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

”The rough winds may wrestle – Our God will perform: With Christ in the vessel, We smile at the storm.”