When You Feel Like you Have Lost Everything...

When you pray, are you asking God for something? Do you thank Him when he answers your prayers? Do you see how he is working in your life? Do you feel God blesses you? Even in a crisis? 

As you might have heard East Texas was in the path of 5 tornadoes April 29th, 2017.

I drove to Canton, Texas to volunteer and help bring food, water, encouragement, prayer, and the Amazing Grace booklets to the survivors of the devastating storm system, I call them little “love gifts.” I had never done this before, and I had no idea what to expect. As I pulled into an area that was in the path of the tornado, it amazed me that more people didn’t die*.

When I heard about the storms, I began to pray immediately for the people in the path of the storms and God heard my prayers along with everyone else who was praying as well.

As I drove down the country roads to deliver “love gifts” to people, I wasn’t sure how they would respond. I smiled really big as I approached a man cleaning up his yard and said, “Hi! I’ve brought you some food and water.” He was so appreciative, and I found out his is a policeman. His girlfriend was so appreciative and nice. She told us the whole story of what happened. I told them, “even though I don’t know your names, I was praying for you.” The man’s eyes teared up, and he said, “I know that’s what got us through.” He got choked up, the so did I. My friend Joy, who is part of the AmazingGrace.Life team asked, “Can we pray for you?” So the six of us stood there in the midst of crushed trees, and metal wrapped around phone poles, and prayed. Joy thanked the Lord for sparing their lives and prayed for continued health and safety throughout the days ahead. She prayed for a lot of things, but mainly thanking the Lord for these people. That he saved them from injury and death. As she closed the prayer, she prayed, “and we pray all of this in the name of Jesus.” I noticed the man had taken his hat off to pray and again his eyes filled with tears.

We talked to a lot of people that day, and I was so encouraged that they had such a good attitude, they seemed happy and were so appreciative of our small little love gifts. They were happy because they were alive! God answered so many prayers that night. These people were blessed and spared by God. They had lost everything, and they were not afraid to say, “God has His hand on us.” They knew, because they experienced God’s grace and protection in the midst of the storm.. literally!

These people have a story. It’s their story. God intervened and saved their lives. They will forever be grateful for His mercy and protection. Like the man said, “God was with us.”

So even though these people lost everything, they were thankful to God for what they had… eachother, their lives being spared, and a new understanding of the power of prayer.

*Unfortunately, several people died in the storm. I did not meet anyone that knew that families of those that passed away. My heart goes out to them, and I pray for the Lord to bring them peace and comfort.