the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Daily Devotionals
Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
It was a beautiful day in the Bluegrass yesterday. It rained all day long. No, seriously, it rained all day long. It is raining now. And it is beautiful. I could almost hear my grass singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah." Especially that part, "for the Lord God omnipotent raineth." Or is that supposed to be "reigneth?" Anyway, the sight of rain in our area is a welcome one. We had been in severe drought conditions up until this current change of weather.
Sadly, it could get worse. Hurricane Katrina made landfall yesterday and devastated Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with her fury. She's headed up the Mississippi River now, still able to hold some power as she is moving up a waterway rather than across land alone. Had she ground her way through Florida and on up through Georgia and Tennessee she would just be a low pressure system when she arrives here. Such is not the case with Katrina.
Tropical storms gather their strength over water. Especially warm water. What will arrive in Kentucky before long will not be a low pressure system but a tropical storm. Instead of just getting a day or so of rain we'll get high winds, tornadoes and a lot of rain. And that's just us. In between where it made landfall and us are millions of people and billions of dollars of property that she will affect on her way. We'll get her as she is weakening. Those before us will feel her punch a bit more ferociously.
Fury. That's what people felt and witnessed yesterday in New Orleans. Fury. Unleashed power. Unrestricted might. Fury. Some have even dared to call it "the wrath of God." Ever wonder what would happen if the God who created the universe and all that is within were to get angry? It's already happened. Genesis 6 and following records the story of the flood. God was angry. He was angry with man for walking away from their relationship with Him and He was angry at Himself for making man. So He flooded the world and killed all but eight people; Noah and his family.
Guess what came out of that storm. What resulted from man's inability to maintain a relationship with God? God sent His Son. Even as Noah received an olive branch following the flood (Genesis 8:11, 12), so God sent us His olive branch in His Son, Jesus. "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8 While we were still adrift on the flood of a sinful life Christ died for us, and God's anger was satisfied through Jesus' death (1 John 4:10).
'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' Copyright 2010 © Tom Kelley. 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author at the end of each story, along with their complete bio and a link to https://www.studylight.org/ 2) 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' content may not be arranged or "mirrored" as a competitive online service.
