It developed as a tropical wave leaving the coast of Africa on September 9, 1989, and within a few days became a Category 5 hurricane. In its path were Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The aftermath of that violent upheaval of nature was 82 dead and 56,000 people homeless.

Mark Lewis and his family were living on the island of St. Croix when Hurricane Hugo struck. He and his wife, Angela, took their two daughters into the shower stall of their bathroom and huddled together while the sounds of fury roared outside.

Lewis comments that he had been through some scary mo­ments in his life when he had experienced intense fear, but they paled in the relentless terror of Hugo. He stated that he prayed repeatedly for wisdom to know what to do and the courage and strength to do it once it was revealed. He envisioned the hands of the protector God holding up the walls around him and his family. He asked God to spare his wife and girls because of his insecurity of his own survival.

Finally, the relentless winds died down, and he risked a one-man reconnaissance trip to inspect the damage. The living room had blown away and all their possessions looked like they had been "blenderized" with equal parts of glass, wood, assorted building materials, and rainwater to create an ugly hurricane stew.

Lewis realized that life is more important than so many of the petty differences and irritations that arise in any relationship. He wrote that there was a new appreciation between him and his wife.[1]

Judah had been through some devastating circumstances in Jeremiah's time that resembled a hurricane's force as well. There were Josiah's reforms in 627 BC, Jeremiah's call to prophetic min­istry in 626 BC, and then a wholesale upheaval following the death of Josiah at the Battle of Megiddo in 609 BC to the Battle of Carchemish in 605 with Emperor Nebuchadnezzar. The first de­portation to Babylon occurred in 597 BC, then the siege of Jerusa­lem under Pharaoh Hophra (Apreies) in 588 BC, and the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. A second deportation in 586 BC and a third deportation to Babylon occur for the inhabitants. Is it any wonder as to a need for divine help and strength?

The text lends itself to help us learn some lessons from hurri­cane forces that occasionally hit our lives.

I. Encounter God In Life's Hurricane (Jeremiah 17:5a)

We live in a world of high rise apartments, gated communities, and fenced-in homes designed to keep people out. What a striking contrast that is with our God! He delights in meeting with people. He offers his love and availability at every turn in our lives. His desire is for intimate connection with us. Humanity is his parish! God comes to seek and to save all people who desire his divine love.

Some of us are faced with nervousness when we con­sider the implications of having an encounter with God. The very thought of coming into the presence of a holy God means that there is bound to be power — even radical transformation. As we spend time in the word, we can't help but be surprised by the outcomes of the many encounters between God and his people through­out history. — Julie Reid[2]

I encounter God by pouring my life into his. My empty con­tainer is then filled with his divine presence. I cannot come into the presence of God without being filled with a sense of courage and hope that radiates from him.

Another hurricane disaster forms the backdrop for a story of courage and hope. This account comes from the city of New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Hy and Libba McEnery worked as missionaries with child evangelism in New Orleans' inner city. Thousands of children had put their faith in Jesus Christ during Hy and Libba's nine-year ministry. One of those was a young man by the name of Herbert. Starting at age nine, Herbert was faithfully taught the Bible and its promises. Herbert had a personal encounter with God and began to develop a love for Jesus as a child. He was filled with courage and hope that reached out to others in his community.

When Herbert was fourteen, he started a little church in the small kitchen of his house. He preached and his five sisters sang about Jesus' love and salvation. Thirty people crammed into the kitchen and there they heard the message and prayed. These pre­cious children prayed hard. Their surrounding community was dev­astated before Katrina ever struck their city. Their devastation was the alcohol and drug culture that imprisoned them. These children prayed for their loved ones who were lost and in prison. They prayed for America, New Orleans, and for the corrupt politicians in city government, for their schools, and for deliverance. Four years they met in the kitchen of Herbert's house.

When Katrina hit, Herbert, his mother, and his five sisters were forced from their home. Now eighteen and the man of the house, he watched as their house floated away and the seven of them were evacuated to the Superdome. It was there that they witnessed dead bodies, suicide, rape, knifings, shootings, looting, and continuous cries for rescue and help. A physical hurricane had damaged their lives, but much greater was the hurricane of despair! Herbert asked God what to do and how to help those living in despair inside that superdome. As he prayed, God filled Herbert with his holy pres­ence and began to show him what he wanted Herbert to do. Herbert started to march around the dome singing gospel songs and cho­ruses. Little by little, people joined him, and before long there was a second line doing the same. Then people began to pray audibly, calling out to God for help. Herbert knew then that this is what God had led him to do. He talked to people in small, impromptu Bible studies. Within one day there were fifty groups meeting in­formally both in the morning and in the evening before curfew.

From those meetings, people caught a spark of hope and words of encouragement. Herbert's message was simple and came right from the heart of Jeremiah who told the people, "... blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him" (Jeremiah 17:7 NIV).

Finally, Herbert and his family were relocated to Lake Charles, Louisiana. But again tragedy struck as yet another hurricane hit — Hurricane Rita — and once again they were evacuated. But God was filling Herbert's heart with his presence. After a short time far away in Iowa, God used a congregation that was yielded to him to carry Herbert, his family, and several others from his little congregation to that state where they assisted them in housing, food, and help.[3]

God will fill us with courage and hope as we continue to trust him in our hurricanes of life!

II. Exist With God In Life's Hurricanes (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

Jeremiah says in verse 6 that they will be like a desert shrub that exists in the desert parched land. Their lives are like the unin­habitable salt land that not only lacks water, but is poisonous to most plants, and is lonely and sterile. However, to exist with God is to be blessed by God as verse 7 indicates. The word "blessed" is baruch and it means "to kneel" so as "to ask God for a blessing." What Jeremiah desires is to live a holy life dedicated to God from the inside out and not outward prosperity or living life from the outside inward. We must live in God's grace.

Grace is not only a gift; it is a grave responsibility. A man cannot go on living the life he lived before he met Jesus Christ. He must be clothed in a new purity and a new holiness and a new goodness. The door is open, but the door is not open for the sinner to come and remain a sinner, but for a sinner to come and become a saint. — William Barclay[4]

To be "a saint" to live from the inside out means that we will:
* listen to God's directions,
* enjoy the fellowship of God,
* master the world and not allow the world to master you,
* move steadily toward God,
* conform to God's character,
* be passionate for Christ,
* receive the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer the ravages of sin, and
* radiate the love of Christ to others.

To exist in life's hurricanes is to exist in Christ!

III. Examine The Heart In The Hurricanes Of Life (Jeremiah 17:10)

Jeremiah confesses his own inadequacy to know himself. It is exciting to learn that what God tells Jeremiah is that he (God) knows. Andrew Blackwood Jr. states that "God knows the thoughts and feelings, and gives to a man according to his actions." Jeremiah isn't judging someone else's heart or mind but rather wants to ex­amine his own heart!

So what should be in our hearts as we encounter God? It should be a heart that is:
* sensitive to God;
* rejoicing in the Lord;
* a living sacrifice for God, yielded on the altar of faith;
* allowing God to touch and change the heart;
* giving to offer self for others; and
* thanking God for his grace.

How is your heart?

Hurricanes do come and they hit hard and sometimes persis­tently. I want my life to reflect what William Henry Channing who was a clergyman and reformer (1810-1884) wrote:

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fash­ion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common — this is my symphony.[5]

Let me hear God's music in my heart while the storm passes over! Amen.

1. Couples Devotional Bible NIV (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Com­pany, 2000), p. 821.

2. David M. Edwards, Encountering God (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2008), p. 13.

3. Joyce Williams, compiler, Quiet Moments for Ministry Wives (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2006), pp. 161-165.

4. Albert M. Wells Jr., compiler, Inspiriting Quotations (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1988), p. 87.

5. Jan Karon, A Continual Feast (New York: Penguin Group, 2005), npn