Lessons from Harvey

This week, Houston saw one of the worst storms and flooding disasters ever in recent history. While it's been heartbreaking to see streets, cars, and highways entirely immersed in rainwater and piles of flooded possessions on the side of the road of once-flooded homes, Harvey has taught me and many people several lessons I thought I would share.

God is great.
When I saw the heaviest rain coming down on Saturday night and Sunday morning, it came at about 5 inches per hour, and the news on Sunday morning was absolutely unbelievable. Streets and highways my family drives to get to church and to get to downtown looked like rivers and lakes. These were all reminders of how great our God is, because He is the one who has the power to send all this rain from heaven down. A verse from my Bible reading supports that nothing is as great as our God:

"But I am the Lord your God,

Who divided the sea whose waves roared—

The Lord of hosts is His name."

(Isaiah 51:15)

My mom also read a quote online that I found very inspiring:

"Don't tell God how big your storm is. Tell the storm how big your God is."

In  all our trials, may we remember how great God is, and that no matter what, He reigns, and He will take care of us.

God is in control.
No matter how hard we try to control our circumstances, God is still the one who controls everything. I could not help but keep this in mind in the midst of a natural disaster like Harvey, that although we try to prevent any trouble from coming upon us, it is God who is the one to protect us or to give us a trial to make us grow. When my family was debating whether or not to evacuate our home, I told my mom who was so afraid of our piano being ruined that if it's God's will for our house not to flood, then it won't. However, if it was and our house did get flooded, He would give us the money we needed to replace our piano. If God truly loves and cares for us, He will give us the best, even if that means we must suffer. All in all, God holds us in His hands and we must trust in Him. The chorus to a praise song always reminds me of this:

God is too wise to be mistaken

God is too good to be unkind

So when you don't understand

When you don't see His plan

When you can't trace His hand

Trust His heart.

God is good.
While Harvey destroyed many homes and businesses with 50 inches of rainfall, God is still good. In all ways, things can be worse: all of Houston could be underwater, and we could all be dead. A call from a pastor during the storm reminded us of this; he said, "Imagine what it was like during Noah's time!" Catastrophes often teach us to see the good through all the bad—God is truly merciful and full of grace. There was one night that my family was deathly fearful of our house getting flooded, so we moved everything to higher ground and prepared to evacuate in the morning. While we did evacuate, till this day my home and street are dry, and we simply have no electricity, a small problem compared to many others who now have to deal with the result of a flooded home—molding floors, soaked drywall, and smelly toys. Still, even through helping out a church member's house that was flooded, there is still a sense of thankfulness in knowing God saved their grand piano because they only had a foot of water. 
Below is a link of an interview with a man who was just saved from his flooded apartment by a helicopter. It moved me to tears when I saw it live on the news because even though he lost everything, he could still thank God. In our daily lives, how much more should we be thankful?

https://www.facebook.com/Christyfaith/videos/10210063610936783/

God bless!
Sophia