May is the month that people in this area really begin thinking about storms. Watching the forecast day to see if everything is going to happen. To see if they should be prepared. Also, tomorrow is the anniversary of the tornado that hit Joplin in 2011. That was a tremendous storm. I was blessed to interview 60 families that were in that tornado. Their stories truly humbled me. And I don’t mean because they were in the storm. I’m talking about how they handled being in the storm. I wish I could tell you what each of them said. But there’s too many for this devotion.
One that does stick out, and is very fitting for what I’m writing today, came from a member of the Charlie 22 Outdoors family. His story included his family being huddled together in the kitchen, as the roof of the house was tore off above their heads. And I mean it was gone. They looked up and they saw what was raging outside. His son looked up at him and said that he was scared. He looked at his son, and he said something along the lines of: “No worries son. Whatever happens, Jesus has us.” Wow! Wow! Wow!
I love the Charlie 22 Outdoors family. I love how people believe in the mission. Believing in it and sharing it with others. Them sharing it with others might mean the most to me. Something else that really hits home with me is the willingness and boldness of our supporters to share lessons with me. To send me videos or other pieces of material that I can learn from. How our supporters are not afraid to hold me accountable. To make sure I stay focused on the mission. I love that. Our supporters are part of our family. And I know you always hear me say it takes me a family to battle veteran suicide. To do what we…do takes a family. An example of what I’m talking about came in the form of an email that I received from one of our supporters. One of our family members. He sent me a link to a sermon by Dr. Charles Stanley. On storms. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this for you to go watch it. Very powerful. The biggest point of the sermon that I took from it was not so much on storms. But more importantly on how we handle storms. Because it is how we handle them that determines the results of them. Storms will either destroy us or they will develop us. They are inevitable in our lives. They’re going to come. And how we go through them is the key. What gives us the strength and the wisdom to get through them is our anchor. And our anchor is the Bible. God‘s word. We may think that we can handle things on our own. We don’t need God‘s word. Oh man…how wrong we are. How mistaken we are. We all need Godly wisdom to get through the storms that come. And that wisdom comes from the word. So today, make it a habit to go to the anchor daily. To give yourself the security and the stability to face the storms that come. And then let the storms develop you.
Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/qW8JKIMcMuU
