By Shawn Parker
Correspondent
Springtime and storms go hand in hand in Mississippi, and this year their presence has been a bit more notable than normal. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had tornadoes rip through the state from Rolling Fork to Amory and from Silver City to Pontotoc.
These storms have devastated communities through the destruction of property, and they took many lives as they tore across the state. We certainly need to be praying for the Lord to intervene in these losses in order to comfort, to encourage, and to redeem.
I’m thankful for the response that has already been given by Baptist Disaster Relief leadership over the last couple of weeks. As you’ve read, we have ministry sites in multiple locations with volunteers feeding, clearing debris, and ministering to spiritual needs in these communities. I hope you’ll join me in praying for these volunteer servants and the critical work they are doing.
While most of us were spared the winds that impacted our state, I suspect all of us have experienced a storm of some sort in the last couple of weeks. Your storm may not feature thunder and lightning, but it might very well involve a medical crisis and or a family challenge. These storms are also real and can be devastating, but thankfully the Lord offers help and hope for their victims as well.
I was in Rolling Fork after the tornadoes blew through, and it was a beautiful day of sunshine and blue skies. I was reminded as I looked over the vast destruction of the previous evening that God is always at work to comfort and help. In the same way, when we experience other types of storms, we can be sure that blue skies and peaceful winds are just around the corner.
The basis of this hope was the focus of our worship on Easter Sunday. We gathered in churches of all sizes this past weekend to celebrate the empty tomb and all it stands for.
While space won’t allow me to delineate all the spiritual blessings in the cross and empty tomb, we can be sure that because the cross and tomb are both empty our hearts can be filled with life and hope.
I facetiously suggested to some folks at the Baptist Building that we need to launch a prayer effort to stop all the storms until we can catch up. While that may not be a misplaced prayer, we all know that we can’t stop the storms. They keep coming in relentless fashion!
We can, however, stand through the storms because of the One who stood in our place, who stood up in the grave, and who stands with us today give us hope when the storms inevitably come. This is the simple truth!
Parker is executive director-treasurer of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board. He may be contacted at simpletruth@mbcb.org. Opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, The Baptist Record, nor the publication’s Advisory Committee.
