Praising In The Storm

Impending disaster has a way of waking us up.

Sometimes we have to face the very real possibility of losing everything we have, before we really appreciate -- everything we have.

Sometimes it takes the looming threat of a powerful storm, to make us truly grateful.

That's the lesson, the blessing in disguise, the silver lining that Hurricane Joaquin offers many of us along the east coast who escaped the ravages of the powerful category 4 storm.

It could have been disastrous. We could have lost everything. Sadly, folks in South Carolina did lose it all in the hurricane-spawned floods. And the central Bahamas got hammered. Lives were lost.

Hurricane Joaquin seemed a particularly ominous, calculating storm. It appeared to purposely pause just south of the Bahamas so it could gather itself for the onslaught. Spinning in place at increasingly higher speeds like the Tasmanian Devil, Joaquin in a day and half amped up and transformed from a category 2 storm into a muscular, powerful category 4 storm, with 130 mph sustained winds, before making landfall.

While lingering mockingly in the Bahamas for another day or so, inflicting maximum punishment, it was as if Joaquin couldn't make up its mind. Where to next? And none of us could say for sure.

This was part of the lesson, by the way. Uncertainty. Nobody is crazy about it. But life is loaded with it. The Creator was speaking loud and clear, reminding us that for as much as we may think of ourselves, of our trumped up capabilities, we're not in control.

And for awhile there, not only were we powerless against the storm, but with all our scientific know how, our future-seeing techno-gadgetry and all seeing expert analysis, the weatherman's best guess at Joaquin's next target was on par with tossing a dart, blindfolded, at a dartboard 10 feet away.

U.S. East Coast or northeast into the Atlantic Ocean?

We were either days from disaster -- or deliverance.

After incorporating and deciphering the various highs, lows and stalled fronts occupying the east coast as Joaquin entered the picture, that picture finally came into focus. The storm's forecasted paths narrowed. One of those paths had Joaquin eyeing the east coast. And right in its newly-revised projected path was the Jersey Shore where we live.

Ultimately, you couldn't look at Joaquin's latest tentative projected paths -- aware of the havoc it reaped in the Bahamas and with the still fresh memories of Hurricane Sandy's impact on the shore just three years ago -- without imagining the worse.

Alarm bells sounded in the mid Atlantic states. We hoped and we prayed for the best. We started to appreciate what we had.

The Bible is loaded with scripture on the importance of thankfulness. Scripture talks about how thankfulness, no matter how adverse the circumstance, opens the door to God's mercy and blessings. In psalm 90, David asks God to "teach us to number our days" so we would appreciate life, live wisely and use our time well.

That's what Hurricane Joaquin did. Bottom line: A thankful heart goes a long way. It's true. Hopefully, we know that more than ever now. So, yeah, be grateful we were spared. And then be truly thankful that you are thankful.