A Different Kind of Flood
Because I’m the publisher of a magazine, I think forward. Our team meets to carefully plan ahead with specific ideas each month. We discover great stories, talk to amazing people and publish according to a calendar that is part of an overall plan that spans a year. We sometimes work months in advance.
Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a mans heart, but the Lord’s purpose prevails.”
It seems our plans were suddenly overridden by a bigger cause that on our best days we could not anticipate. First, we witnessed the violence and unrest after Alton Sterling’s death. Then, the tragic police shootings. As we were seeking ways to resolve our differences as a community, our city flooded with what is being called the Thousand Year Flood.
Who can plan for that? When the flood happened, I began to realize that none of our planned stories would happen. After a few days of near panic, I began to sense the Lord calming my anxious heart. Deep down I knew there was nothing I could do but let the water begin to recede and let God have His way.
After a few days of helping friends as well as complete strangers gut their homes and toss years of memories into ginormous trash piles on the street, I began to listen. Not to words, but to a spirit of love that seemed to be hovering over heartache. That same spirit was soothing pain and gently touching those suffering deafening loss. That same spirit is what moved others into swift action to help anyone they could find who needed a hand.
We were flooded all right. That horrific flood was followed by a different kind of flood. That of the Holy Spirit. Suddenly, stories were coming to us. Heroic efforts by everyday people. Boat rescues. Cooks cooking. Loads of laundry being done. Valiant heroes forming demolition teams. Churches sending out groups. Shelters becoming neighborhoods. Teams of people coming from across the nation with caravans of supplies and years of experience in handling disasters. After a few long weeks, it seems we are we! Our city and state are still rallying to help one another. Church and state are working together. People from across the world are sending help. While the road ahead is long, we have become one.
We hope you enjoy our stories. We wish we could tell them all! Our prayer is that in this edition, you too will find hope and a sense of community. Our capital city has been through a lot. There is much work ahead. We are center stage to much of the world, and each one of us is here for this season.
When they see us, may they see a different kind of flood.
