Growing up in what the south describes as “tornado alley”, I learned early on that destruction can come rapidly in a person’s world. Houses that stood strong the night before could quickly succumb to the powerful winds that a tornado could bring. Families that felt success through acquiring of earthly possessions could lose that confidence in a matter of minutes. Life, often taken as a given, could be lost in an instant.

I remember practicing tornado drills in elementary school- hide under your desk, sit near a concrete wall, lower your face between your legs for protection. There are also memories of standing outside with my dad watching a funnel cloud forming in the sky, lying awake at night convinced that I heard a freight train (apparently the sound a tornado might make) or experiencing fear that came with the “calm” that often came before a tornado hit a location. While my family never experience a direct hit, I did have friends that lost portions of their home and my college lost portions of a dormitory during my junior year.

According to Accuweather.com, tornadoes have been known to strike every continent with the exception of Antarctica and range widely in duration. Their size varies as well with some of the larger twisters growing to a mile or more in width. The widest tornado on record occurred on May 13, 2013 in El Reno, Oklahoma. This funnel was recorded to have a width of 2.6 miles.

Bangladesh experienced what was labeled as the deadliest tornado on record killing 1300 people and leaving 12,000 injured (April 26, 1982) (weather.com).

Tornadoes are real. Devastation is real.

This makes me think of how devastation often affects our spiritual life as well. What storm has hit us leaving behind a 2 mile swath of ruin? What storm are we currently enduring? What challenge has hit your classroom leaving you reeling from the effects?

Life is full of challenges. Life is full of devastation. Life is full of ruin.

The good news …My God is bigger. Bigger than what seems overwhelming. Bigger than the devastation in my past. Bigger than the task that is ahead of me. Bigger than it all.

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I have recently been reading in the book of Nehemiah and have been fascinated with the courage of Nehemiah. Not only did he boldly ask God to give him favor with the king, he was daring enough to make his request to the king and then lead an amazing rebuilding project.

What is God asking you to restore?

Like Nehemiah, I believe we each have areas in our lives that need to be rebuilt, completed or restored. Take some time to think through what makes up your life story. Are there places in your story that you have allowed God to start building and working but somewhere along the way, you deserted the project? Is there an area that once was powerful and used by God but has recently been allowed to go to ruin? Has your life experienced a disaster that left behind destruction that only God can rebuild?

Nehemiah not only received the king’s blessing in his story. He also received the obvious hand of God through provision, protection and wisdom. It was not easy and it did not always follow the most obvious human path, but God was faithful.

God wants to do the same for your life.

I would encourage you to trust God with the restoration project. Allow Him to be your provision. Boldly pray for His guidance and protection. Follow the plan God lays before you. Don’t divert from that plan. Be alert. Be faithful to His call.

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” ¹⁸ I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.

They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. (NIV) Nehemiah 2:17-18

Sources-

• Accuweather
• Weather.com