.....about "peace in the storm"

     I was in and around the Bastrop and Smithville areas during the week after the fires broke out there on Labor Day weekend.
     Though I never saw any billows of smoke or fire...or any signs of burnt grass, I did see many folks that had suffered from the fire's devastation.
     I need to say right up front!  I have not gone through the trauma of losing any of my possessions to any natural disaster.  So, I can only empathize with those who have been effected by the fires.
     One of the shelters (a church) in Bastrop had asked for the two shower trailers which our two associations operate.  So, I went there one day to check things out.
     First Baptist Smithville (in the Gonzales Association) was serving as a shelter and feeding point for folks in the eastern part of the fire's path.  I went there to see if they needed anything.
     In my limited time at both places, I observed a sharp contrast in two responses to what was happening:

     At the shelter in Bastrop, I overheard a fire victim sharing with one of the shelter volunteers about her sad plight.  She was weeping over all she had lost.  The church volunteer was trying--compassionately--to console her.
     Later, at First, Smithville, I ran into a lady in their fellowship hall -where they were operating their shelter and feeding ministry.  I had known her as a member of one of our association churches several years ago, but she had moved, and I had lost track of her.
     She was busy sorting and bagging up items to be given out to victims.  Assuming she was just volunteering her time, I asked her where she was living now.  She informed me---as she continued sorting and bagging---that they lived near Bastrop, and had lost their home in the fires.
     I was just thinkin'.......about how different those two responses were!
     I'm guessing the lady in Bastrop had no insurance.  And, the lady in Smithville probably did.    But, they both lost everything!
     I thought of the words of Jesus in John 16:33: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer.  I have overcome the world."

     May we not forget that there are people all around us---whether they've suffered physical losses or not---that need the PEACE that only Christ can give.

Proverbs 16:3 (KJV)