Tag Archives: storm surge

Crashing Waves that Erode Your Faith

According to the latest research, erosion washes away 25 feet of coastal beach annually. When a region experiences more than it’s typical amount of hurricanes, crashing waves can wash away up to 50 feet of coastline in a season. On a rare occasion, the aftermath of a great storm forms a new land mass. Such is the case of the great hurricane of 1933. Crashing waves and storm surge eroded the Ocean City inlet, resulting in the creation of Assateague Island.

[Roaring] deep calls to [roaring] deep at the thunder of Your waterspouts; all Your breakers and Your rolling waves have gone over me, Psalm 42:7.

There are 53 verses in the Bible that use the expression wave. However, only 16 refer to a wave on a lake or sea. In the passage above, a chief musician sings about the power of rushing water. Whether the author is writing about a specific river, waterfall or a raging flood flowing after a severe storm, water has a mind of itself. One downpour can take a country road and transform it into a river, sweeping away anything that comes close to it’s path.

Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind, James 1:6.

While the height of waves are limited on lakes and rivers, the larger the body of water, the higher that waves climb. Although tsunamis are rare to most coastlines, invisible tsunamis occur daily in the forms of hardship, trials, and tribulations. If your faith is weak or unprepared, doubt will come crashing through like a freight train. Instead of hesitating, believers must be alert, forming hedges of protection via prayer so that when days of danger arrive, your faith will stand tall.

by Jay Mankus

No Reason to Pretend

In order to put on a happy face, some individuals feel compelled to hide their misery from co-workers, family and neighbors.  Like a Halloween masquerade party, many profess to be fine all the while anguish, grief and pain collect.  Although the motto “fake it until you make it” sounds logical, there is no reason to pretend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn_QNLEFovg

From a mere vocational point of view, the last 5 years of my life have been like a hurricane, causing flood waters to break through levy’s.  As the storm surge continues to rise, my heart, soul and mind cling to promises of the Bible, hoping the trials subside soon.  When success reigned supreme, life was a piece of cake.  However, as turmoil entered my life through the winds of change, I’m not the same person.

Sure, I try to stay upbeat, but I am a mirage of my younger years, a piece of drift wood transformed by time, wind and water.  Water logged, especially around the waist, I long for dry land, a beach to call home.  Footprints along the shore are obvious signs that God has been carrying me.  When the waves calm, I will arise, perhaps wiser than before.  Like a work in progress, a strand of clay in the molding process, there is no reason to pretend it isn’t well with my soul.  Yet, I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me, Philippians 3:12-14.

Don’t be afraid to be transparent; real so that a hurting world can see the only thing holding believers together, Romans 5:5.

by Jay Mankus