Over these past six weeks Florida has had four hurricanes that have passed through our state and I have learned one thing for sure. There is nothing you can do while it is happening except trust God that He will bring you through.

Hurricane Charly came up the west coast of Florida and was headed toward Tampa when all of a sudden it took a right hand turn and slammed into Port Charlotte. Although there was much relief for the people of Tampa there was also much sadness for those in the path of Charly. Charly came and ripped through the state very quickly leaving much damage behind.

Hurricane Frances sat over the state of Florida from the east coast to the west coast for days. It felt as if it would never go away and caused you to wonder when you would see the sun again.

Hurricane Ivan came up the west coast of Florida and again there were some tense moments for the people of Tampa but the storm turned more northwest of us and headed toward the Panhandle and Alabama where it left severe damage.

Then Hurricane Jeane, the one that sat out in the ocean for over 10 days took a turn and headed toward Florida. This was the fourth storm in six weeks and honestly it had no mercy on the east coast of Florida or in Central Florida where so much damage had occured from Charly and Frances.

During Frances I was at my daughters house from Saturday through Monday. We watched all the news coverage while spending time together as a family. The first gust of wind on Saturday knocked my power out and that was just the most furthest outskirts of the storm. Thankfully I realized I did not have to sit here alone and go through this but instead I could spend the time with my family. We watched and we waited every hour for something to change, only instead we heard the winds getting stronger, the rain falling consistently by the hour, and by Sunday morning there was already a sense of everyone wanting to get outside, and the storm had not even gotten here yet in full force.

For Ivan and Charly I was able to stay home as Tampa did not take the hit of the storm. When Jeane got here I was just too tired to pack up yet again so I decided to stay home. I knew by now there was nothing I could do to stop it from coming and I just continued to pray the Lord's protection over this state.

I realized through these storms that no matter what all I could do was be still. I could not make it go away, I could not run from them and in them I had a choice to be frustrated and impatient or to go with the flow of it all. There were moments I wanted to scream and just tell that thing to go away already but thank God for His gift of self-control and patience. Even the News Reporters just kept repeating to it's audience through Frances, "BE PATIENT, THE STORM WILL PASS THROUGH EVENTUALLY."

I knew in my heart that these storms were just an earthly comparison to what goes on in the spiritual realm every moment of the day. I know that many of us have experienced storm after storm in our lives and that many of us feel so helpless to cause it to stop and maybe that is because we can't. The storms of life are going to come, sometimes more frequent than others, but they are going to come. How we respond to them and through them is what is going to make the difference in our hearts.

I believe that there are warning signs telling us we are going to go through something, just like Jesus told Peter that satan desired to sift him, I believe the Lord gets us ready for every storm coming toward us. I believe that when we pray some storms can be rerouted in a different direction. With hurricane Charly, Tampa Bay was set for the hit, but right before the hit the storm turned and went another direction. Not that we wanted it to go anywhere else or for anyone to be harmed but bottom line was we were not in control. The storm seemed to have a path of it's own and went across the state doing major damage and even taking some lives.

Still, in the spiritual realm, when we see certain things coming or the enemy comes to us with his lies of impending doom, we can pray and believe God for His very best. If He allows it to come, He will give us the grace to go through it, if He reroutes it and the powers of darkness are dispelled than we can rest in the Lord and be thankful that He cancelled the plans of the enemy in our lives.

I don't think there is one person in Florida who did not feel the weariness from these storms coming one right after another. Everyone was tired, and many had not even completed the repairs from the first storm before we had the fourth one coming. I know we all get tired of the storms of life, we tend to give up on praying because we don't see the results right away. Sometimes we are still getting through one trial and another one comes along in the midst of it. The enemy is a loser my friend and his purpose is to get us to stop praying, to give up in the Spirit and to lay down and let him run over us. But God! He will give us the strength to stand! He will give us grace and the power of His Spirit to stand against the wiles of the enemy. He will bring us through every storm of life and one day we will live in total peace with Him and never have to worry about another storm again.

God is faithful my friends and through all of this, whether it be storms in the natural or storms in the spirit sometimes we just have to BE STILL and KNOW THAT HE IS GOD and that the Lord is in control and will watch over us and bring us through it. It is His good pleasure to give us good things in this life and to strengthen us in our inner man that we may stand on the Rock He has given us, His Son Jesus Christ.

I am asking everyone to pray for the state of Florida, for all those who lost homes, furniture and important possessions. Pray for the weariness to be lifted and for the Power of the Holy Spirit to come through Florida with His Wind that we may all be strengthened and lifted up by the only wind that counts, the Power of Our Living God to bring us through it all.

I leave you with this Word from Jesus found in John 16:33:

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."