To this day I can almost taste the most memorable slice of carrot cake I've ever had. It was delicious - the frosting was everything you'd want to be. The cake was moist yet firm, with just the right amount of sweetness. Delicious.

But I'd be lying to you if I now claimed that what made this piece of carrot cake so memorable was how it tasted. It actually had nothing to do with taste. It had to do with where I was eating it and what was going on. You see this memorable piece of cake had not been served to me at a birthday party, it was not handed to me on our fine Christmas china. I was not eating it at a church potluck surrounded by friends and cheerful grown-ups. This particular piece of carrot cake (which I can still almost taste) was served to me in our basement, while my entire family, plus my Aunt and Uncle, sat on the cold pavement. No one was particularly happy - in fact, no one paid much attention to the cake at all. Everyone was listening to the radio and wind.

Now you see dear friends, what made this piece of carrot cake so memorable to me - it was not the taste, it was the fact that I ate it on the night the Tornado came.

A tornado had touched down in our area, and we were downstairs waiting it out, praying it wouldn't come near the house (it didn't). So we sat. Waiting and listening. As we listened the storm seemed to ebb and flow in its intensity - sometimes it seemed to be over, hissing out its last breath, only to roar up anew with greater energy. So I sat there munching my carrot cake, waiting for the storm to end.

And sometimes we all feel the same way. The phrase 'storms of life' is popular for a reason. Not necessarily tornadoes, but all the things that happen around us and to us, all the things we see when we turn on our TVs or when we listen to the radio can sure feel like a storm. A huge storm, swirling up around us, dwarfing us. And sometimes life just becomes us trying to wait it out.

But brothers and sisters, all I had to occupy my time that night of the Tornado was a piece of carrot cake. However, God in his love has given us something much better to chew on during our current storms. He's given us his precious Word and unstoppable promises. He has reminded us time and again that though the storms of life seem strong, they are nowhere near as strong as Him. And more than anything, in His Word He has assured us again and again that nothing - no physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, national, or international danger can take us out His hands. He is stronger than all and he loves us dearly.

So we wait out the storms, knowing that our God will get us through. That's not such a bad place to be after all.

Pastor Joshua Zarling



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