In the Storm
All around me, it seems like so many people are hurting. This isn't too unusual. It's just the way life is sometimes. We can go for several weeks or months when everyone around us seems to be doing just fine. But then, BOOM! All of a sudden, everything seems to be going wrong for so many people we know. Right now, I know several people who are fighting cancer, and several more who have been hospitalized with rare and not-so-rare maladies. Some have broken bones that are healing--slowly. Many people in my area have hail-damaged cars and homes, or even whole fields--and livelihoods--destroyed by hail or drought, or both. Not too far away, ranchers are struggling to recover from devastating wildfires. Babies have been born with birth defects. Children and young adults have been killed in car accidents. When disaster strikes, platitudes are inevitable. "God won't give you more than you can handle," and "A loving God would never let such a thing happen....