Violent Storms Require Strong Roots!

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”*

      The weather forecast on the news was pretty dire over the weekend. Our area seemed to be in the path of what was called a “bomb cyclone!” That sounded alarming. I didn’t know what to expect…a big explosion, a tornado coming through? Whatever a bomb cyclone was, I was worried that we were going to lose our trees and maybe power too. Email alerts from the power company telling what to do in case of downed lines got me praying!

      A bomb cyclone or bombogenesis turned out to be a term used in meteorology to describe an explosive storm with high winds and snow caused by rapidly falling barometric pressure. All of the conditions, including being at the right latitude, were coming together for a violent blizzard.

It was predicted that the storm would last about two days, with winds around to 50 or 60 miles per hour and temperatures diving into the teens, not including the wind chill factor! We double checked the property, making sure that things were put away and tightening the tarp over the big lawn swing. But, that was about all we could do.

      The two trees most likely to topple over had already been removed; however several tall, spindly evergreens had grown up around and underneath the trees. Their roots were intertwined and were weakened by the removal of the maples. If the evergreens fell, they could damage the house, garage or our neighbor’s property.

      Sunday morning was gray, with a foreboding sky in the west. Winds were already blowing, our wind chimes making a racket in the gale. The chimes had been screwed into the eaves on the west side of the house and were too hard to take down without getting them tangled.

      We bundled up and hurried to the car for the short drive to church. The only apparent danger along the way was from heavy signal boxes hanging from cables over the intersections. Five different signals suspended on a cable swung back and forth over one street as we passed underneath!

      When there was a clattering noise on the concave roof of the church during the service,

 the pastor stopped mid-sentence and looked up at the wooden ceiling which had the shape of an overturned boat. “Well, at least we’re safe in the ark!” he said with a grin.

      The rest of the day was spent back in the safety of our house, while the wind picked up speed and the storm swirled around us. My first thought the next morning was about the evergreens in the backyard. It was a relief to see them still standing even though they continued to dance back and forth in the gusting winds. They must have had strong, deep roots—tried and tested over years of enduring such gales.

      And our power was still on! That was welcome news. About 90,000 people from Detroit southward and into Ohio weren’t so fortunate. With the continuing high winds, it was going to be difficult to repair downed lines for several hours if not days.

      When the storm began to break up later that afternoon, I was able to get out of the house to take the dogs for their afternoon walk. It was still bitterly cold with some wind, but nothing like we had experienced earlier. As the clouds drifted away, the sun came out bringing a little bit of warmth and a whole lot of cheer.

      Just as good root systems help trees withstand bomb cyclones, strong spiritual roots help us withstand catastrophes and crises that happen unexpectedly in our lives. How can we have hope when suffering affliction and even be joyful, as the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to fellow Christians living in Rome? How can we be patient when going through trials and testing? How can we be faithful to pray when in the midst of a swirling storm?

      Paul not only wrote about these qualities, he lived them out. Paul formed deep, deep connections with God by walking with Him for many years. When he put his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he experienced God’s love and forgiveness firsthand and came to depend upon the promises in scripture. He was able to endure imprisonment, persecution and severe testing with God’s help. It’s never too late to grow deep roots, dear friends. Why not start today?

*Romans 12:12 NIV