Hurricane Mitch: There Is A Safe Place

A look at Hurricane Mitch by one who was there.There Is A Safe Place“Hurricane Mitch, a category five hurricane, is due to hit the coast of Belize, Central America, sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday, October 27-28, 1998. Make plans to evacuate the area. We will offer any assistance we can, but with the conditions at hand we urge you to leave as soon as possible.” We received this message just after arriving at our hotel. We hadn’t been in the country more than an hour. Before we left the USA for Belize we knew there was a hurricane in the Caribbean, but all forecasts had it going north long before it approached Belize. We felt sure we would still be able to visit Christians in that little country. We made plans well in advance, and waited with anticipation as the days neared when we would finally leave. Collecting books to take to the Christians in Belize, and lining up our schedule of places to visit only brought more excitement as departure approached. It had been two years since my first visit to Belize. Over and over again I thought of the sweet time with the saints there - picturing their faces and wondering when I would get the chance to return. Over and over in my mind I planned the trip to help them, to encourage them in the Lord and see them grow. Because I was so excited to get there, I was really disappointed when I found out the trip would have to come to a quick halt. I wondered why we had come so far only to leave so soon. I was upset until I saw the worry and fear on the faces of those who lived there and had no way of leaving. They could evacuate the coastal cities, but the whole country (smaller than Equatorial Guinea or New Hampshire) could be consumed by Hurricane Mitch. Where could they go to be safe if it hit their country head on? Disaster Strikes
For the short time we were there we had wonderful fellowship, but when we left I was bothered by one thought: I had someplace to go; they had none. When I stepped off the plane I’d be home. Their homes may very well be destroyed. With sad and unsure hearts we boarded the airplane. As I kept track of the hurricane over the next few days, I couldn’t believe the devastation. Belize had been spared a direct hit, but Honduras and Nicaragua had not. Hurricane Mitch did the unthinkable, turning West and South to crush these small Central American countries with tragic force. High winds and relentless rain caused flooding, the destruction of buildings and mud slides that buried thousands of people attempting to flee from their paths. Over 11,000 died. They had no place to go. No mountain was high enough nor building strong enough to protect them from the devastation. As reports came out, we were heart-broken from what was going on in a land so far away - yet very close to us. Some Help
What could we do to help? We could send money, clothes, food; we could even go down there ourselves as volunteers. But the need was so great! Was prayer what was needed most? James 2:15-16 (nkjv) tells us: “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” The needs were so very great! Something had to be done. And so it was, many groups combined efforts with record speed and began bringing in food and medical supplies. They erected temporary shelters and met basic needs in practical ways. The danger of contaminated water leading to disease and the task of recovering and burying thousands of bodies will go on for a long time. Even in these poor countries, it will take years to get things back to where they were - if that can happen at all. But thank God the work has begun. The devastation of this tragic storm hit us personally, because we came extremely close to being directly affected by it. But what about all the other tragic happenings? In this last year alone tidal waves have killed thousands, tornadoes have wiped out small towns, famines have killed untold numbers, and the hands of men in war and civil conflict have caused needless loss of life. It seems that there is no way to stop it - death just keeps marching along. How do we slow down a hurricane, make a tornado stop or settle the rumblings of an earthquake? We can’t. But we can pray. Some things are beyond us. But prayer isn’t one of them. The Greatest Tragedy
The greatest tragedy among all the tragedies is that so many are not ready - not merely for a hurricane, a tornado or a famine - but for eternity. The people in Honduras and Nicaragua literally had no place to go. Thousands who thought they were safe lost their lives to the storm. Others knew they were not safe but could do nothing to change that. They were helpless in the face of what was about to happen. Many had no warning of the great danger that was on its way. They were not ready, and not informed. We can have the same problem as they did - not regarding a hurricane, but regarding being spiritually ready for the great tragedy. God’s Word has told us that we are in the path of the great storm - His judgment. It will come upon those who are sinful and do not know the One True God: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10). For days, warnings went out concerning the hurricane, and if people were able, they tried to find someplace safe. For many there was no safe place - no shelter that could withstand the storm. I can’t imagine the horror of a mud slide consuming my home, my family, my neighbors, my town, and even me! The utter helplessness of having no safe place is overwhelming. Life To Death
But this does not have to be the case for us spiritually. God will judge the world and mankind for sin, but because of His love for us He has provided a safe place for us - His Son Jesus. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jn. 3:17-18). When Jesus came to this earth He came for a very specific reason - to be judged for sin so that we would not have to be. God emptied His wrath on Jesus for every wrong thing you and I have ever done. Jesus, the One who did not and could not commit a single sin, was judged for us. He never had a bad thought, never told a little white lie, never sinned. He was and still is perfect. It is because of this very fact that He could take the punishment for us. If He had sinned, He would have been judged for His own sin. But He never sinned, so He could take our punishment as the perfect sacrifice: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). While Jesus was on that cross, he was not merely being rejected, beaten and spit on by man - by people who called Him King one day and demanded His death the next. No. He came to die - to be crucified for you and me. Death To Life
Three days later He arose from the dead just like the Scriptures said He would. The grave couldn’t keep Him because he was sinless. The grave came about because of sin. But the Sinless One couldn’t be kept there. He is life eternal; and life and death have no part together, no more than light and darkness can be together. When He came back from the grave He proved - more than that, declared - to all that He was greater than death. This One who endured God’s punishment for us calls us through His Word, the Bible. He tells us that a horrific storm is approaching. There is no way to escape its devastation. It is too big to run from. No place will be safe - except one. The Safe Place
If we accept what Jesus did for us, confess our sinfulness to Him, believe that He died for us, and place our trust in Him, we will enter that safe place. In that place we will never be judged for sin. Where is that place? It is with the Lord, forever in heaven. But escape from judgment is only part of our life with the Lord. While heaven is a lifetime away for each of us, we can walk with and enjoy the Lord right now. But know this: the time is coming when we will experience joy and blessing that is beyond what we can imagine - forever! “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together ... in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-7). Just as I can’t imagine the devastation of Hurricane Mitch, I can’t imagine how wonderful heaven will be - a place with a Person who gives us joy that will not end, happiness that no one will interrupt, and safety that no storm can disturb - total fulfillment. I just can’t imagine it. It’ll be wonderful! Are You Safe?
Wonderful, that is if you’ve gone to the safe place, to Jesus, to escape the storm. If you choose, like many others, to go to some other shelter, know this: it will not hold up in the storm and you will perish. If you choose to ignore the forecast of its coming, you will be devastated by it when it arrives. There is no place safe from the storm of God’s judgment for sin - no place but in Jesus. Pray for those who have had to live through Hurricane Mitch, who have lost everything and face a lifetime of hurting. Help them any way you can. But when you do, think of this: when the ultimate storm comes, will you be in the safe place? By Chuck Myers