The Generator

                I’m still thinking about the storm—there are so many things you can learn from the havoc nature wreaks on itself and civilization. And there are so many things we can learn from the howling storms that blast our lives.

                Nearly sixty thousand households and businesses lost power in our city during the recent storm, and some didn’t regain it for five to six days. Our neighbors were among them. Record-setting heat made the loss even more unbearable.

                We all hoped for a quick fix, but as the hours ticked by and temperatures soared, the power didn’t go on. On Saturday evening I heard humming. It wasn’t from a lawn mower. All the grass was dry and crunchy. It wasn’t the hospital helicopter beating its way to the landing pad. And it certainly wasn’t the buzz of chain saws. So what was that steady pulse nearby? Curious, I went outside. There it was—small but mighty—a generator supplying the house next door with power.

                As my husband and I walked through the neighborhood in the days before the power came on, we heard the now-familiar hum of generators. Instead of an annoyance it was a comforting sound. Those who had generators weren’t suffering in the blistering temperatures or losing the food in their refrigerators.

                No one escapes the storms of life. Years ago my husband used to say that he had lived such a charmed life, and he felt rather guilty. After a few storms blew through his life, he had a different perspective.

 Sooner or later we all experience difficulties. I used to think if I just did all the right things—things that God wanted me to do—I would avoid the storms of life. While I’ve had to unlearn that thought process, I’ve realized that in coming to Christ I am now hooked up to the Generator. While storms may knock me about and take things away from me, I have the God of the universe to empower me to live through them. I am not alone in my storms.  And one day, when I face the last challenge of life, I will still have my Generator with me as well. The hum of God’s presence in my life is an enormous comfort to me. Christians are not different from others when it comes to trials and hardships; rather, we are not alone in them.

                The storm blasted everyone in my city—some more severely than others. Those who had generators stayed connected to a power supply. Those who have become part of God’s family are connected to The power supply of the universe and need never fear being alone and powerless in the storms of life.