We had a horrific storm sweep through town last Friday evening. When the sirens began their ominous warning I decided to turn off the TV and shut down the computer. Heavy sheeting rain with periods of hail ripped across the area. Frequent bursts of lightning exposed black racing clouds and thunder explosions were loud enough to make dogs wail. Tornado strength winds downed power lines, ripped roofs from homes, broke storefront windows and severely damaged two apartment complexes.
It is now Monday afternoon and the community is still not back to normal.
The entrance to my development is a winding boulevard lined with pines, crabapples and maples. This morning I noticed a lonesome maple, its trunk split from an over eager storm gust, lying there dejected and broken. It reminded me of a verse taken from the Book of Job,
“At least there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.”
Job 14: 7
This verse is a biblical reminder that if we are ever “broken” we can, with God’s guidance, come back with strength and vigor. What reassuring words spoken by Job, who had it all, then lost everything. During his years of poverty, persecution and the effects stemming from a horrible illness he continually confessed his love and trust for God. And how did the Almighty reward this man of faith? With mercy, grace and wealth.
“The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life
more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep,
six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen
and a thousand donkeys.”
Job 42:12
We can never be defeated as long as we are surrounded by God’s strength.
Ephesians 6:10-11
Manna and Coffee 
this one gave me goose bumps. Very gripping.