“Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You’ve never failed and You won’t start now”
(Hillsong UNITED, OCEANS)
Just a couple days ago, the entire country of Belize was in a collective state of panic and worry, because preliminary forecasts indicated that a Category 1 hurricane would make landfall on our shore sometime in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
We just couldn’t stand it on top of all the troubles that 2020 has brought thus far. The country was prepared (in a general sense) in anticipation of this weather system, but as the appointed time kept drawing closer, the storm’s course shifted away from us and left us mostly unscathed. Were we lucky this time around?
The nation woke up Thursday morning to a most beautiful sunrise that rose majestically and shone supreme over the eastern Caribbean Sea. The majority of the country woke up to life as they had left it on Wednesday. Oh, what a blessing that was – we were spared once again.
As for the reasons why we were spared, I can deduce only one thing: it certainly wasn’t luck! We have an all mighty and powerful God whose grace abounds in deepest waters and whose sovereign hand was our guide. He has proven time and time again that He has never failed, and He certainly won’t start now.
But despite all of our blessings, social media was flooded with posts from persons complaining that the storm didn’t come! Can you believe that? A country’s people who have been spared from a destructive storm are complaining that the storm was too weak, that they stayed up waiting to experience the storm’s ravages and mighty forces, but the storm disappointed them. What an atrocity!
Reading these remarks and comments evoked a keen sense of sadness and disappointment in me. I couldn’t believe that, given the state we are in socially, economically and health-wise, that we would want a storm to ravage our country so that we could “experience it” and make posts for our social media.
My people, we are blessed by our Almighty Father for seeing us through and proving to us that He never fails. We are blessed that this storm’s course veered away from us and left us almost whole and well in almost every regard.
While I am grateful that we were spared the worst, let us then in brotherly love reach out to those who were affected the most and offer them the support and assistance they need as they seek to rebuild their lives. Let us also remember that September is the peak month for the hurricane season.
Finally, for those who are disappointed that the storm didn’t ravage the country, be very careful what you wish for. When we test God, we experience His wrath!
May God continue to bless Belize!