No matter how overwhelming the storm, there is always HOPE.

This is the message I have repeatedly tucked in my heart this week, again and again. Sometimes our storms put our someday’s on hold. In this case, I’ve had to put my September Somedays Series on hold in order to prepare my family and my home for hurricane Irma.

I wrote this post a year ago, in the midst of Hurricane Matthew, and once again, I find myself directly in the path of a storm powerful enough to destroy in ways I cannot wrap my head around. The pictures of islands already obliterated in its path are overwhelmingly sad. With a home for sale, and offers pending, hurricane Irma poses the threat of losing the fresh start my family has longed for – the fresh someday we’ve been counting on.

Preparing for devastation is sobering.

We leave with the clothes on our back, our sweet dog, Dexter and an Arctic cooler to keep food cold for a week.

We leave knowing there will be no power when we return.

We leave knowing there may be no roof remaining on our home.

And we leave knowing our life might be turned upside down.

But after all the preparations, sobering conversations and “what if’s”, I remind myself that destruction doesn’t get the final say. Not when hope is alive. It may claim our possessions, but it cannot claim our heart. It may taunt us with lies of who we are and who God is not, but it cannot stand up to truth. And it may try to steal our tomorrow, but it cannot steal what hope has already claimed.

Hope transforms when the storm tests our faith.

When we stand to lose everything, we cling to what is most important…our family and our faith. And even in the midst of the testing, God continues to show that He is going before. This testing of our faith makes a way for hope to change our heart and our perspective. The reward is a deeper understanding and a humble embracing of a will not our own.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2

Hope reminds us to rely on God for our tomorrow.

We trust in what’s ahead, even if it’s what we would never choose. And if we are asked to walk through the unchosen storm, we trust in His sovereignty. When everything around us swirls out of control, and the waves swallow up all good in sight, we run to the One who is always good and our only safe place.

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe. Psalm 18:10

Hope declares we are never forgotten.

Walking through the unchosen storm often drags us beneath the waves. Where the darkness speaks lies that we are alone, we don’t matter and we are forgotten. But hope tears through the darkness and calms the waves. It fixes our eyes on the Lover of our soul and points us toward the Lifter of our head.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

So, if you happen to be one of the many people caught in the path of Matthew or you find yourself trying to navigate an equally difficult storm, take heart…

Our God goes before us, He goes with us, and He will carry us through. We may not know what tomorrow brings, but we do know that no matter how dark and scary the storm…

Hope always emerges and we are forever changed in its path.

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