In worship assemblies, church groups often sing a hymn which expresses a prayer to be able to be held in God’s hand “til the storm passes by”. One is likely to find himself in several “storms” in a normal lifespan. Those storms are played out on various stages in different people’s lives. There is no pattern. There is little prediction. They just come and we must deal with them the best we are able. The storms come from different directions and assail us in unexpected ways, on all sides. A storm is raging in the life of someone we know, if not our own most of the time.
Though we are aware of the threats which may be encountered in this life, one should not lose heart. Although it becomes indelibly clear that there is no “Heaven on Earth”, nor will there be, there is a way to achieve happiness and contentment in our time in this life. How does one find that path? Often men have asked, “What must I do to be saved?”
This life is a proving ground. The “here and now” of this existence is not intended to be the ultimate. The storms serve to test the medal and the faith in God to take care of us. They test the spiritual fiber of the soul. The storms remind that this is not our ultimate home and that there is a better existence awaiting the faithful. If this life offered “peace, perfect peace”, where would be the longing for Heaven?
In January, my wife and I love go to the warm beach. Earlier this year, as we walked on the beautiful white beach at Panama City Beach, Florida, I was musing about how wonderful is God’s creation and of the enjoyable spot in which we found ourselves. We were warm and able to walk on the beach with only long sleeve shirts part of the time. I thought of how wonderful it would be to enjoy such a climate all the time. Even then, there were fellow Americans in the northern part of the States who suffered from bitter cold. When my life seems good, others are suffering.
However, I was reminded that on another day (when Hurricane Katrina visited south Florida), people to the north walked in peace while the storm ravaged the Gulf Coast. Reconstruction that was in progress on a pier nearby reminded me that storms come everywhere, at some point in life.
Storms of life come in the form of family crisis, illnesses, accidents, financial losses, and broken hearts. Everyone seeks safety from such threats, few find a way to successfully cope. We are ill-equipped to bring peace to our fellowman in trouble nor to escape the ravages of the storm for ourselves. What or who can save us?
God is with us in our suffering on this earth. He tells us in His Word, the Bible, how we may attain the answer to our question: “What must I do to be saved?” However, we will not reach the full safety of “the hollow of His hand” until we join Him in Heaven. We dare not trust in the stormy “here and now” of this life. Rather, we should seek His way and obey His plan of Salvation of the soul. The only safe place is with Him and we dare not jeopardize that prospect by becoming entangled in the world in which we find ourselves (temporarily) existing.
If we may help you find the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?”, please contact us and we will help you find His way to safety.
W. E. (Willie) Hamblen
