Religion: A Pastor Ponders

When the Water Rises

by Pastor William Jenkins

October 1, 2005

Our attention has been fixed on the recent hurricane disasters. In our area a lot of energy and expense was exhausted to evacuate. We are fortunate in that our worst fears did not materialize. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were not so fortunate.

I remember a story about a farmer who lived in tornado ally and spent a lot of money building a storm shelter. He was not a well-to-do man and putting the shelter in was a strain on his resources. Whenever the sky would darken he would retreat into his shelter, but time after time he would exit the shelter to discover that his house and barns were all right. He began to regret the money he had spent on his storm shelter because it seemed the storms never hit his place.

One day a really bad tornado came along, the man came out of his shelter to find his house and barns all destroyed, scattered everywhere by the storm. He looked into the sky and exclaimed, “Now, that’s more like it!”

Storms come into every life eventually but we do not rejoice when they do. The difficulties we encounter in life may be like the rising waters of a flood.

The water rises when you come home from the doctor with a bad health report; they rise when your spouse decides to leave you, when you loose your job, when there is a fatal auto accident, or a hurricane threatens your security.

When the water rises the old familiar markers are washed away, the landscape is altered, things become unsettled as the ground beneath disappears. In our lives are the high-water marks that tell the story of our journey through the flood waters.

When the water rises the first instinct is to seek higher ground. It is not by accident or impulse that people automatically cry out during distress, “O, my God!” It is a divinely instilled instinct deep within that causes us to look up and reach up. By seeking God we seek higher ground.

When the water rises we also need a strong foundation. When trouble comes it is good to know where you can put your foot down on something that will hold you.

The foundation many have stood on these past few weeks has been their faith in God. In Psalm 50:15, the Lord issues an invitation for when the water rises,

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble:
I will deliver you and you shall praise Me.”

This is something to ponder during these days.

League City United Methodist Church is located at 1411 Main Street (FM 518), one block east of Interstate 45. For information, call the church offices at 281-332-1557 or visit the website at

HYPERLINK - http://www.lcumc.org