So we worship God as He is not an image or idol we imagine in our minds. Isaiah 43:13, "Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” Ex 4:11, "But the LORD said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?" I would venture an educated guess that nearly everyone on the island the tempest is currently assailing has heard the gospel. Envisioned is this in many ways jewel of an island stripped bare with the "sticks" of once beautiful palms and a luxurious bay as empty with the little and medium boasts destroyed and strewn about with the tin metal roofs and once wooden structures poured out as a jigsaw puzzle from a box and likened to the city to which the writing-prophet warned from his youth until he was an old man. Only "Lamentations 1" can come to one's mind...
1 "How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Has become a forced laborer!
2 She weeps bitterly in the night
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has none to comfort her
Among all her lovers..."
And pragmatism shifts to the request that God may call Christian mercy groups with true gospel officers and send them forth to make sense of havoc and frightened lives, that a praying church arises and that true praise would be heard through pain and comfort some, until evening...
"As the last lights off the black west (go) / Morning in the brown brink eastward springs,
Because The Holy Ghost o'er the (woe) world broods / With warm breast and with 'ah,' bright wings" (Gerard Manley Hopkins, "God's Grandeur," Late 19th Century, Published Posthumously, Public Domain).
But we thank The Father for the hope of restoration and redemption especially in the face of apparent tragedy,,, Raise up laborers for the harvest, Luke 10:2, and comfort those who mourn, giving them a garment of praise instead of ashes, Isaiah 61:3, help the search and rescue efforts and provide relief from The nuclear aircraft carrier that will need to be deployed or another way to restore power over the next 3 weeks to month, and help us continue prayer, in Jesus' Name.
"And we see Jesus, for His suffering crowned with glory and with grace /
tasting death for all men by God's grace / Given power to put all things in place /
And we see Jesus, seated at the right hand of The Throne / making intercession for His own /
Upholding all things by His Word alone...
And You are Glorious / Shining victorious o'er powers and principalities /
And You are Glorious Reigning victorious / disarming all You enemies /
The rulers of this world / beneath Your feet are hurled /
As You reign our conquering King" (David Morris & Michael Massa, "For You are Glorious," Integrety's Hosanna! Music, 1988.
Deuteronomy 32:39
"See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand."
Job 9:12
"If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
Daniel 4:35
"All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
Psalm 135:6
"The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths."
Psalm 115:3
"Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases."
John 10:28-29
"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand."
"God's Grandeur"
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Isaiah 61:1-4
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me,
because the LORD has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom to the prisoners,
2 To proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of our God’s vengeance,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 To console the mourners in Zion—
to give them a crown of beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
they will restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities,
the desolations of many generations." In Jesus' Name.
1 "How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Has become a forced laborer!
2 She weeps bitterly in the night
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has none to comfort her
Among all her lovers..."
And pragmatism shifts to the request that God may call Christian mercy groups with true gospel officers and send them forth to make sense of havoc and frightened lives, that a praying church arises and that true praise would be heard through pain and comfort some, until evening...
"As the last lights off the black west (go) / Morning in the brown brink eastward springs,
Because The Holy Ghost o'er the (woe) world broods / With warm breast and with 'ah,' bright wings" (Gerard Manley Hopkins, "God's Grandeur," Late 19th Century, Published Posthumously, Public Domain).
But we thank The Father for the hope of restoration and redemption especially in the face of apparent tragedy,,, Raise up laborers for the harvest, Luke 10:2, and comfort those who mourn, giving them a garment of praise instead of ashes, Isaiah 61:3, help the search and rescue efforts and provide relief from The nuclear aircraft carrier that will need to be deployed or another way to restore power over the next 3 weeks to month, and help us continue prayer, in Jesus' Name.
"And we see Jesus, for His suffering crowned with glory and with grace /
tasting death for all men by God's grace / Given power to put all things in place /
And we see Jesus, seated at the right hand of The Throne / making intercession for His own /
Upholding all things by His Word alone...
And You are Glorious / Shining victorious o'er powers and principalities /
And You are Glorious Reigning victorious / disarming all You enemies /
The rulers of this world / beneath Your feet are hurled /
As You reign our conquering King" (David Morris & Michael Massa, "For You are Glorious," Integrety's Hosanna! Music, 1988.
Deuteronomy 32:39
"See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand."
Job 9:12
"If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
Daniel 4:35
"All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
Psalm 135:6
"The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths."
Psalm 115:3
"Our God is in heaven; He does as He pleases."
John 10:28-29
"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand."
"God's Grandeur"
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Isaiah 61:1-4
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me,
because the LORD has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom to the prisoners,
2 To proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of our God’s vengeance,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 To console the mourners in Zion—
to give them a crown of beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
they will restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities,
the desolations of many generations." In Jesus' Name.
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
