{"id":7409,"date":"2017-09-06T15:14:09","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T20:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=7409"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:40:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:40:47","slug":"when-disaster-strikes-god-remains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2017\/09\/06\/when-disaster-strikes-god-remains\/","title":{"rendered":"When disaster strikes, God remains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ 1 Corinthians 13:13<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a>
Photo credit: businessinsider.com<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The two narratives<\/p>\n\n\n\n

twist together<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when the waters churn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and the fears rise,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when the winds blow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and doubts intensify,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

when the flames destroy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and homes burn to ash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every surrender surfaces<\/p>\n\n\n\n

acts of courage and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community is formed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

around the cross of loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When suffering blinds us from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“trust in God” it is OK to scream<\/p>\n\n\n\n

or cry or wonder if we’re being<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ignored by the God of love,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to acknowledge the ache<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of possible abandonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the still of the storm,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the heroes and the victims,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

who are helpers and hurting<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(all of us wear both badges)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

make known the power of God’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

presence and the might of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is our story of salvation,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

this is the story of Incarnational<\/p>\n\n\n\n

transformation. Although we are<\/p>\n\n\n\n

frozen in fear, we arise to schlep<\/p>\n\n\n\n

out junk. We splurge no more so<\/p>\n\n\n\n

we can contribute more cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We grip arms as one<\/p>\n\n\n\n

steadily moving forward<\/p>\n\n\n\n

toward Sunday’s true joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, by “love one another”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God remains real<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the midst of disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:13 The two narratives twist together when the waters churn and the fears rise, when the winds blow and doubts intensify, when the flames destroy and homes burn to ash. Every surrender surfaces acts of courage and love. Community...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":14127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[698755597],"tags":[214,698755374,401,34756,20816,228277344,86983097,35614,3785,208878,1744361,1861871,82348,647597],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-7409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-care-for-the-earth","tag-christianity","tag-community","tag-faith","tag-fire","tag-hope","tag-hurricane-harvey","tag-hurricane-irma","tag-loss","tag-love","tag-natural-disasters","tag-ordinary-heroes","tag-poetry-2","tag-suffering","tag-trust-in-god","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/torsten-dederichs-KrQJzrZiCak-unsplash-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

When disaster strikes, God remains<\/a><\/blockquote>