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Hato Made Me Better

Posted by Jane Bates on

If you think that you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! — 1 Corinthians 10:13

Typhoon Hato hit Hong Kong fiercely this Wednesday with violent winds and downpours of rain.  Dramatic videos filmed in the morning surfaced quickly…  Three grown men handling a cart, edging around a corner, the force of the wind pushing them as if ice skating and one of them nearly thrown to the ground. A façade cleaner’s gondola dangling in the gale on an apartment building, swinging freely, and smashing windows. Waves slamming up as high as second-storey high-rise windows and over the tops of smaller buildings in less-developed areas.

I found myself wondering why the people who were responsible for these didn’t prepare better.  However, I know well that planning ahead for every contingency, making the right preparations and best decision in a crisis, so that no damage is incurred, is just not that simple.  

As believers, it is so important to think ahead what we will do when various crises come and we take a direct personal hit. God’s word instructs us to be careful not to fall, not to give in to temptation while facing life and its frequent storms, and to remember we belong to Jesus Christ and are to be transformed (Romans 12:2).

But sometimes, like Hato, life is unpredictable, worse than expected, inconvenient, troublesome, distressing, shocking and harmful. We need not find ourselves dangerously tossed around by wind and waves, hurting ourselves and others. Instead, we are to be ready to stand firm.

I pray for those here in Hong Kong and other places whose lives were impacted by Hato.  For me personally, Hato made me better.  It caused me to remember that I need to be prepared to not fall by standing firm in my faith in Christ.

 

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