Right now, we’re in hurricane season, and the Caribbean and southern U.S. are getting ransacked but, to be honest, this doesn’t have much to do with real life storms–or maybe it does (more on that later). For now, it’s about bees.
My daughter was about six when she made a life-altering decision. “My goal in life right now is to not be afraid of bees…for at least one week.” All my kids have gone through phases of being absolutely terrified of bugs–especially bees. They panic, cry, and flee to the refuge of the inside world.
Whenever I saw the frozen face of terror and heard the trembling words, “Daddy! There’s a bee!” my response was always calm, dismissive, and probably a little out of place. “Did you say hello?”
No. I’m not a tree hugger or an insect preservationist. My seldom understood lesson was simply this: don’t panic. Whether the issue is a hurricane, a capsized canoe, a choking toddler, or a bee, flailing around in panic is only going to make things worse–it’s just gonna get you stung. Staying calm in an emergency is the best way to avoid making things worse, and get yourself and others out of trouble.
So how does this apply to real life and metaphorical storms? Enter the song “Hello Hurricane” by the band Switchfoot. The first verse and chorus go like this:
I’ve been watching the skies. They’ve been turning blood red.
Not a doubt in my mind anymore. There’s a storm up ahead.
Hello hurricane. You’re not enough.
Hello hurricane. You can’t silence my love.
I’ve got doors and windows boarded up.
All your dead end fury is not enough.
You can’t silence my love.
We all face storms in our lives–trials, adversities, hardships, and setbacks. We’ve faced them before and we’ll face them again. These can be great times of leaning on one another and sharing one another’s burdens. These times can bring out the best in people. They can also bring out the worst. And the ones closest to us can often be the ugliest. Spouses, children, and parents can be horrible to one another if you add a little stress to the mix–much worse, a disaster.
When the flood waters subside, the shelters are vacated, and the cleanup begins, it’s a process. You might all be living in the same room, dressing from your suitcase, working, and repairing your house with every unclaimed moment.
When the credit card is maxed out and suddenly you add an unexpected E.R. bill to the mix. When you’re down to one car and two people need to get to work. What about the kids’ dentist appointment? If we cancel, they’ll charge us, but we only have one car, and we have to work to pay for the appointment that we can’t cancel! Ahh!!!
And that’s when panic sets in. We start to make poor decisions–often lashing out at one another, blaming one another, yelling, cursing, hurting–tearing down when we most need to build up.
Proverbs 17:17 sets a pretty clear standard. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Simple, but not easy, I know. ‘Cause we’ve all been there. It’s so easy to get caught up in the storm, but remember, Satan would love to take an external storm and turn it into internal one that tears apart loving relationships. Don’t fall for that. Tell him, “you can’t silence my love.”
And if a loved one is falling for that, let this verse encourage you. “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Col. 3:13).
Storms can come up unexpectedly and catch us off guard, but as soon as you realize what’s going on try this: take a deep breath, look at the clouds–or the bills, the stress, the court date, or the warm fridge full of spoiled food and simply say, “Hello Hurricane.”
Provoking Iron 