I’m sure by now you, dear reader, are aware of the natural disaster in Houston, Texas. Hurricane Harvey rained down so much water that it is best described as “Biblical” in proportion. A great many people were evacuated prior to the storm’s landfall, but a great many more were advised to stock up and ride out the rain. Areas categorized as “no-flood” zones were assumed to be safe.
My sister, Sarah, and her husband and four small children live in just such a zone. They went to sleep Saturday night, listening to the rainfall, and thanking the Lord for their provisions and safety. Sunday morning, they woke up for church to find that their whole neighborhood was under water! What had happened? How had that much rain fallen in the night? The water was halfway up their driveway, and it was continuing to rain.
They began to pray. The water continued to rise for most of the day, reaching their garage door by late afternoon. The storm broke for a bit, and the water was able to recede about four feet. Praising God for His protection, they took turns watching through the night, waiting to see what Monday would bring.
Monday brought more rain. And more rain. And more rain. By early evening they began to make plans with a neighbor who has a two story house, because it did not look like they could possibly stay in their home through the night. The only way to get to the neighbor’s house was to swim, and with the storm blowing and the rain falling, this was not a risk they wanted to lightly assume with 4 children.
They asked everyone to pray. The water was in the garage and across the front porch. It was at the threshold and continuing to rain. Sarah posted a desperate facebook message around 5 o’clock. “If you’ve never prayed for anything in your entire life…please please please pray that the rain stops…I can’t imagine what tonight will be like when it gets dark if it keeps raining…” Saints and sinners around the nation began to pray. “Please God, stop the rain.” “Please God, Stop the rain.” “Please God, stop the rain.”
And the God of miracles did not stop the rain. It continued to rain all night, BUT the rain stayed at the threshold of the door. Water was rising all around them, but it did not cross that line! As if it was the Red Sea, the Hand of God held the water at bay all through the night. Sometime after dawn, the rain slacked off, and the water began to recede.
As of last Tuesday afternoon, the water had receded from their porch and garage floor, and the rain has become intermittent. They are still trapped in the house as the neighborhood is underwater, but miraculously they still have power, and are still safe and dry in the Hand of God.
Friend, God doesn’t always answer the words of our prayers. Sometimes, He answers the needs of our hearts. What Sarah and her family needed was safety, and even without stopping the rain, God provided that on Monday night. We know that “even the winds and the seas obey Him,” and that all power belongs to God. Join with us in thanking God for His provision of safety, and please continue to pray for the souls in Texas who are in need of rescue, both physically and spiritually – there is a Savior for every one of them, and our God is the God of miracles!
Update: Sarah’s husband still cannot get to work because of flooded interstates, but their assembly (Manville) and school are both accessible and have minimal damage.
Taken from AssemblyHub.com
Laura Bonner
Laura Bonner is a commendable worker from South Alabama. A wife, mother of three, seamstress by trade, pianist by practice, and writer at whim, she is in happy fellowship with the saints at Central Bible Chapel in Millbrook, Alabama.
