Momentum For Monday, September 26th 2022

“…he also hears their cry and saves them.” (Psalm 145:19b)

Today, I just wanted to share something that I stumbled across and was extremely encouraged by it. Recently, some friends and I were together when we got word that a hurricane was headed towards Haiti. A hurricane is never good news as it stands, but when it’s heading towards a third-world country that doesn’t have sound structures nor the ability to evacuate, the problems compound.

We have a ministry there that we’ve been spending many years getting to know people so well that they’ve become more like family than friends. Roughly a month ago, our ministry was hit with some unforeseen heavy rains and flooded our children’s home (like heavier rains than we’d ever known to occur in over a decade type of stuff). So naturally, when we heard a hurricane was coming towards that area, our stomachs turned. We knew that another flood from hurricane winds would be the catastrophic. It wouldn’t just add insult to injury, but injury to injury since Haiti is also currently on lockdown with much other turmoil occurring.

When we got word of this, we prayed. We prayed for either God to shift the direction of the hurricane or weaken it so much that it wouldn’t do much damage. The hurricane had already pummeled Puerto Rico with rain, and we knew that Haiti could be next. Our people in Haiti prepared the best they could by sandbagging in hopes to prevent more flood damage, as they were still trying to recover from the previous flood.

A few days later, I hadn’t heard much about anything, so I decided to look up and see what transpired from the hurricane. I was amazed at what I saw. The hurricane shifted direction right before hitting the island of Hispaniola (the island that the Dominican Republic and Haiti share). It was so completely obvious that God heard our prayers (and the prayers of many others) and spared Haiti. In my eyes, it’s more than a win, but a complete miracle.

God still hears the cries of his people. He still answers prayers. And ya know, often the most encouraging things we can experience have nothing to do with ourselves.

So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need.

(Hebrews 4:16)