Yesterday a horrific tornado swept through Jonesboro, Arkansas. Even though we live an hour and a half away, the Turtle Creek Mall there is our “closest mall.” (Yes, I know we live in the middle of nowhere – isn’t it wonderful!) Anyway, on a Saturday two weeks before Easter, there would normally be hundreds of people shopping in town, but due to the coronavirus, most businesses were closed. Most people were quarantining at home. After a week or two of “self-sheltering,” there are many “antsy folks” who are tired of staying home, yet – if they had been at the mall around 5:00 pm yesterday. . .
There was a lot of damage done by this storm, but no lives were lost. Isn’t that amazing! I believe that once again God used His “Provide-ence.” Who knew that the coronavirus pandemic which has taken so many lives – but, in Jonesboro, Arkansas – it saved many lives! Oh, the providence of God – how amazing it is! We don’t know why things happen as they do. All we can do is put our faith and trust in God, knowing that He knows why. He has “all power over heaven and earth. (Matthew 28:18) He “laid the foundations of the earth.” (Job 38:4) He “knows the ordinances of heaven and set the dominion thereof in the earth.” (Job 38:33) You know, when God talked to Job, He answered Job from a whirlwind (Job 38:1; 40:6) Perhaps He was showing us His power and might and “speaking to us” from the whirlwinds yesterday.
Does He have your attention yet? Are you listening? Who is your Master? “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of teaching which was delivered unto you. Being made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” (Romans 6:16-18) Have you been “baptized to wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord?” (Acts 22:16)
I don’t know about you, but I find it very comforting to know that God’s providence provides for His children. May we put our trust in Him. Simply blessed, Courtney