Daily Devotionals
Finding Hope in the Waters
Posted in Hope
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
As I return from Houston with the high school youth, I can’t help realizing how lucky we were just two short years ago. As many of you know, Houston was hit with a category 4 hurricane named “Harvey” last August. Harvey’s winds reached speeds of 130 mph and dumped a little over 60 inches of rain on the Southeastern part of Texas. Harvey left 135,000 homes damaged or ruined. All of this makes Harvey the second most devastating hurricane to hit land behind Hurricane Katrina.
Going on this mission trip, I was able to experience this devastation first hand. We worked to help rebuild some of the homes devastated from the hurricane. The first home we worked on was owned by David and Judy Lewis, an elderly couple who lost 100% of their possessions in the flood. As a crew, we finished putting up drywall in their house and preparing it for paint. The second home we worked on belonged to a family of five. They lost 90% of their possessions. At this house, we picked up bricks and debris. This house looked like the water had just left and was a lot further from completion than the Lewis house.
The most inspiring thing I learned on this trip was the hope that God can give someone. Every person I talked to, who was impacted by the flood, had so much hope for what was to come despite losing so much. Mrs. Judy told me her story from the hurricane. She hosts the Bible study for her church group every Thursday night. She told us that the Thursday before the hurricane, her group studied the book of Job. In the first chapter of Job, Job gets all of his possessions stripped from him as a test of his faith. By the end of Job, he is restored with twice as much. Mrs. Judy said that studying this before the hurricane is what is giving her so much hope. She said to me, “I know He will restore from the devastation. I’m just waiting for the restoration, and with y’all’s help I have begun to see it.”
Houston still needs so much help and is nowhere close to being rebuilt. If this week has taught me anything, it is how much power there is in hope. Even after so much devastation, Mrs. Judy still had so much hope for future restoration and confidence in her faith in God. I hope I can have that confidence when faced with a struggle of my own. I hope we can all live like that.
Prayer: Amazing God, I pray that you give us the hope in you that Mrs. Judy has for you. Give us the confidence in you and your Word to look for you even in times of devastation. AMEN.
Submitted by Blythe Long