My First Taste Of Hopelessness

In the quietness and confidence shall be your strength. Isaiah 30;15

The sky was a warm haze of blue. Birds sang their familiar sons and the air was comforting and sweet. I was a typical eight year old boy that just wanted to ride his bike into the wind. They talked of a tornado but in my defiant mind I said, " No way, certainly not today." How wrong I was.

The tornado it with a power I will never see again. Six unsupervised children cowered into a downstairs bedroom. Both my parents were miles away at work. As the tornado it we all looked out the window to see the devastation. As if in slow motion the water was sucked out of the bottom of the lake. We could see the fish flopping on the sandy bottom.

I have never felt more afraid, more helpless or more hopeless. I wanted to pray but did not know ow.I had no comforter, no solace and no strength. I recoiled into a corner and shook like possessed man.

The aftermath was gruesome. My brother received a citation for for pulling our neighbor out of her house. As lives wires surrounded him ,he somehow managed to pull her hysterical body from her home.

Our other neighbors did not fare so well. We found the crushed bodies hurled from their home resting underneath their pontoon boat. One leg was flung high into the tree tops.

Years later as I revisit those events I can only be thankful for the ROCK to lean on in tough times. I know of His peace and i know where to turn in tough times. Jesus is a close personal friend of mine and I whisper Hallelujah everyday.

I've felt the pounding in my heart
and the empty anxious stares.
I've flashed quiet listless eyes
because Jesus was not there.

I've known fear that was not spoken
Did not want to look the fool.
With people all around me
I just wanted to be cool.

But now I am much older
and Jesus is my friend.
I've felt the peace beyond my pain
And said a constant amen.

When satan comes to rattle me
and fill my heart with fear,
I claim the name of Jesus
and shout a Hallelujah cheer.
Brad McGill
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