Remember That ‘Good’ Can Come Out Of ‘Bad’
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘<God said,> “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.”’ (Isaiah 45:7)
As we await the possibility of another tropical system to come to Florida in this very busy hurricane season (most likely the last system as the Gulf conditions are turning unfavorable for further developments), we examine what has already happened, with storms such as Debby, Helene, and Milton causing damage to our area and others that passed by giving us a great deal of rain, Many experienced flooding either on their streets, or worse inside their homes – and some areas are remaining in flood conditions, even after weeks of the storms passing through.
The flip side of all these storms is that the extreme drought conditions we were in at the beginning of the year are long forgotten, and the aquifers that provide us our water, whether through municipal water plants or personal wells, are quite full and plentiful. Where some areas had water usage restrictions and burn bans those have been set aside as Florida has been well watered.
We often wonder why the Lord allows us to go through these disasters. The Lord brought (or allowed) calamity to strike Job to demonstrate Faith; destruction and despair was brought to Israel and Judah for their correction. These also brought opportunities for others, including us who now read these accounts, to witness and learn from these calamities to build our Faith, adhere to God and His precepts, and correct our course. It also provides the opportunities to lean on Jesus when we realize we cannot battle the effects of these disasters on our own. Sometimes, we forget that there is ‘good’ that comes out of the ‘bad’.
We often believe that things that negatively affect us are bad things, like the occasional tropical storm or hurricane here in Florida. To us, it is a negative thing, especially if we have to break out our window shutters, and generators, and if we lose power our AC goes out and just overall we feel miserable. This is not as bad as those who suffer spring floods or the after-effects of tornadoes or earthquakes, or an erupting volcano and tsunami, like those that occur in the western Pacific. We really cannot wrap our heads around that sometimes these events come from the Lord, and more so these things are actually good for us.
Take any cold snaps here in Florida, in the occasions when it freezes; while we shiver and smell the musty dust burning off our heating coils (which are used only when it gets cold, or once a year at most), the citrus and strawberry farmers are rejoicing – the cold helps ripen and sweeten the fruit that they will soon harvest, and improves the crop that they bring to market. The spring flooding in the midwestern states does damage those who foolishly build on a floodplain but it also renourishes the land for crops to be planted in our heartland. A volcano can add landmass to an island, or create a new passage for fishing to thrive by creating a shallow-water crater. We look at Job, who suffered great afflictions. However, his Faith in God allowed him to be replenished into a better situation than he was before.
Sometimes what we consider good may not be so good at first. There has to be ‘bad’ times to know what the ‘good’ times are, and vice versa. God allows and orchestrates these times, sometimes corporately (the cold weather, the flooding) and sometimes individually (Job’s issues) for His benefit and for ours, to fall back and rely on Him more. This doesn’t always mean just to toss up your hands and say, ‘OK, Lord, I’ll wait here for you to act’. We must also obey the Spirit when it leads us to act. Disasters, such as a flood or some other ‘negative’ occurrence, should have us act in accordance to what the Lord wants us to do in accordance to the direction of the Spirit, to spur us into action. Like Job, it is to demonstrate our Faith in God.
