A Prayer

Father,

The great goal of our lives is to get to know You well so that we would be able to glorify and enjoy You, now and forever. We are grateful that getting to know You is not something that You expect us to figure out on our own. No, instead, You have revealed Yourself to us. You have done that primarily through Your Word. But You've also done that through Your creation, using things like the weather.

Father, according to Your wise and loving plan, You've caused a hurricane to come ashore. It is a very powerful hurricane with much rain and strong winds. It is very destructive. You've done this so that we can learn some things about You and us, about how You run this world.

From this it should be obvious to us, Father, that the things that we own are temporary. They will not last forever. Many treasures of the people affected by the hurricane have been destroyed, never to be restored. That is what will happen to everything that we own. Nothing will survive and join us in the age to come. In Your kindness You have destroyed these things so that we all, but especially those now suffering, might be reminded of how temporary the things of this life are. Help us, Father, to heed this lesson so that our hold on our possessions would not be too tight. Help us to enjoy them but only for what they are, temporary gifts.

This hurricane has killed some people, and that is sad. But the fact is that one day we also will die. And who knows if it will be Your plan that we die a calm and quiet death in our beds or in the midst of chaos and pain. Teach us to submit to Your wisdom and Your love now so that when we arrive at our last day we will be at peace with Your will.

These who have died now face You, the one who, as we heard from  Peter's letter, will judge us all according to our deeds. We ask for the grace to take that seriously so that we would be diligent to deal with our sins by repentance and faith.

In due time the skies that are now clouded over by the hurricane will once again be clear and beautiful. The sun will shine brightly in a very blue sky. There will once again be laughter and good times for those living there. This is a good reminder that after the difficulties of this life there will be happiness. The age to come will be filled to overflowing with laughter and good times. Help us to remember this, especially when life feels like we are in the midst of some destructive hurricane.

Thank You Father for the lessons that are all around us, lessons that reveal who You are and what You are about. Grant us the grace to learn these lessons well so that we will live well, and that to Your glory. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.