The suffering and praying for the glory

Like so many, we watched as scorched earth images flashed across thetelevision screen shocking with the widespread wildfire damage in California--personal stories, one after another of those who have lost everything. Ourhearts sagged again from the suffering of others. It seemed only yesterday we viewedthe hurricane devastation in the southeast, where many victims are still strugglingwith the loss of their homes representing a lifetime of memories.

And still, a threat remains in Californiawhere firefighters and first responders from across the nation continue to putthemselves in harm’s way to help.

As I watched the news, a wave of despair hitme. For a moment, it threatened to overwhelm in the face of such destruction. How do weeven pray for these folks?

That’s when I remembered what happened duringworship earlier that morning. I had almost cried when we came to a lyric taken perhapsfrom Isaiah 6:3, “his bright glory fills the whole earth.” On my heart was thedesperate need of so many going through unimaginable suffering and howdesperate they might be for God’s glory to come—how they might feel God’s lighthad been obscured by smoke and ash. How can God's glory manifest itself in the places represented by the images seared in our brains? 

One of the fire victims, a person offaith, who’d lost everything testified that despite how awful it all was, he believedGod could come in. I’ve heard others who have lived in L.A. talk about thevibrant faith communities there. So, we pray for God to turn this thing thatSatan meant for evil into something that God can use. How he will do that, wedon’t know. But can he? Oh, yes.

So, let’s keep up our hope for those whoare facing these hard times and let it be our prayer that God’s glory would fill Los Angeles County,the counties of western North Carolina, and the whole earth. 

And let's do what we can to help. Samaritan’s Purse, who provides disaster relief and goes in the name ofJesus, is preparing to travel to California as soon as the fires are under control.They are calling for volunteers to that end. They continue to work in Florida,Georgia, North Carolina, and around the world. You can find more about this and opportunities togive on their site (This is not a sponsored post). 

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-24260977-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Beverly Varnado's most recent book is In Search of the Painted Bunting, a middle grade historical from Elk Lake Publishing, #1 in new releases in its category. She is also the author of several small town romances from Anaiah Press including her latest, A Season for Everything. All are available at Amazon. To explore the web version of One Ringing Bell, please visit bev-oneringingbell.blogspot.comTo sign up for her newsletter, go to http://eepurl.com/dHNdsX Beverly Varnado copyright 2023