Psalm 97:4 – His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles. (TLB)

Here in eastern Ontario, Canada, we experienced drought conditions this year even before the end of May. Our summer, so far, has been extremely hot and dry. Last week, a tornado warning was in effect, but although the air turned green with that strange, foreboding light here in town, we experienced just a bad storm and some much-needed rain.

North of the city, where we own a small cabin on a lake in the woods, it was another story. Though our flags still flapped merrily atop their pole, as we approached our island on the weekend, we found that we couldn't get out of the boat for all the trees that had come down across the dock. Slowly, we went around our island looking for a place to land. We cheered when we found our bridge intact, but saw with dismay that many huge, old trees had crashed down across the trail. Some were ripped right out of the ground, their roots exposed, leaving wide, gaping holes as deep as we are tall.

Cutting our way through with a chainsaw and scrambling over trunks and branches, we approached the cabin with some trepidation. First, we sighed with relief when we discovered that the outhouse was undamaged! And then, a great cheer from three generations, as the tiny cabin that we built ourselves came into view. It stood firm, untouched by the elements.

The dining tent was tossed and torn, chairs and picnic table were overturned, the lawn was covered with branches, and the windows and deck were plastered with tiny bits of dirt and shredded leaves. But we knew that God had been gracious and merciful to us. He had placed a hedge of protection around us.

On every visit, we pray God's blessings on our dear little cabin, asking God for protection and safety for us, our boat, and the things that we've accumulated there over the years. Our grandchildren are witness to the fact that God has never failed us, and we never fail to praise Him.

And though there was much work ahead of us to set to right the damage the storm wrought, before we opened our picnic lunches, we all bowed our heads to thank God, for we are so blessed.

So often in life, when problematic situations arise, we are tempted to focus on what went wrong or on the hard work that is required to make things right again, rather than rejoicing over the ways that God has protected us. Whatever is happening in our lives today, God wants us to praise Him anyway, and as we do so, we'll see the blessings!

Prayer: Father in heaven, we acknowledge that You alone control the weather, and You are always watching over Your children. Thank You for Your divine protection through life's storms. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

JJ Ollerenshaw <sandjollie86@gmail.com>
Belleville, Ontario, Canada
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