The Storm Shelter

The Storm Shelter

While I was praying last night the thunderstorms that had been forecast arrived. While listening to the thunder roll, and the heavy rain, something from my childhood came to mind.

When I was 4 years old I was playing with a friend a couple of houses from mine. I looked toward home and saw a concrete truck in the driveway. Dad was having a concrete storm cellar poured in our backyard.

In later years I found out why. Dad was working on the freight docks in West Dallas when one touched down in sight of his job. The damage and destruction alarmed him, and prompted him to have this shelter built.

It was really kind of nice inside. It had a half round bench where Dad placed plywood across. It made a bed large enough for Mom and I to sleep.

Dad would always sit on the steps near the door so his transistor radio would get good reception.

When an alarm was issued we went to the cellar. Dad would not leave until he heard the official notice that the storms had passed.

He saw the devastation a storm could cause. That prompted Him to prepare. “Boy there is a sermon in that!!”

From that moment when the shelter was built, until I moved away and began a family, we went to the storm shelter. I can not tell how many hours I spent in that concrete hole in the ground.

I remember once when Jennifer was a baby that Dad and Mom wanted to keep her. It was a Sunday and I left her while we went to church. During church a storm came up.

When I got to their house it was still raining. No lights on so I knew where they were. I waded through the water to the storm shelter and beat on the door. Dad, I need to get Jennifer.

I didn’t think he was going to let me have her. The storm warning had not been lifted. After much pleading he let me have my child.

The next door neighbor always made fun of us for going to the shelter during storms. How ironic one day when a storm tore through his yard and destroyed several of his trees.

He came to dad and asked if he could put a gate in his fence so that when a storm came he and his wife could join dad in the cellar.

Like so many, he didn’t find it necessary until it affected him. Of course dad let him put the gate in, and he joined them several times in the safety of the storm cellar.

I knew that my father went to all this trouble because he loved life, and he loved his family. The storm he witnessed first hand created an urgency for preparation.

When I thought on this I was reminded of Jesus, and the storms He stilled in the Gospels.

Everything He did was to teach, and to confirm. Teach us how to trust Him and believe His words of life. Confirm to us, who He was and the kingdom authority that He was sent to pass on to believers.

The Father loved us so much that He spent thousands of years in preparation. When the proper season of time arrived, His Son stilled the rage of death, hell, and the grave. Rising with the keys in His hands that would free us from the fear of judgment, and the bondage of sin.

In the shelter of His arms I rest today. When a storm arises I look to Him for courage. When failure comes I look to Him for mercy.

He is my shelter in the storm.

Still we must be prepared. Even when things are going smoothly a storm could arise suddenly in your life. A life event that came unexpectedly. A tragedy or failure that causes fear and doubt to trouble you.

We must pray faithfully. Read His word regularly. These two things are like building a storm cellar.

They will hold you up when things around you are crumbling. The connection you have with the Father will give you full assurance and peace that you will endure the storm.

The words He shared will be the foundation. The walls are built with His love.

In Him we live, move, and have our being. He is our shelter to protect us from the storms of life.

Remember, just like my dad. It is His love for us that moves us forward. It is His love for us that guards and protects our steps. It is His love for us that builds a shelter to protect us from the storms of life.

#lovewins #hopelives