Storm Pit
The April 27th storms in the state of Alabama literally flip-flopped thousands of lives. Close to 300 lives were lost and my jaw just drops every time I see the devastation. The physical debris is slowly being cleared away, but there is a whole lot more emotional debris lying just beneath the faces of the precious people who were impacted.
A storm pit is supposed to be a place of safety during a storm. Most of the time it is, but based on some of the stories I have heard in Phil Campbell and Hackleburg, even a storm pit wasn’t enough to withstand the howling winds of over 200 mph. Now, in the weeks after the storm, people are still scratching at the walls of their emotional storm pit, trying desperately to get out.
It reminds me of Jeremiah, a prophet to Jerusalem just before and during the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah was thrown into a pit himself. It wasn’t a storm pit, but rather a cistern (or well). This pit didn’t have any water in it – only clay mud – and lots of it. So think about being tossed into a pit with gooey, stiff, wet clay. The harder he worked to free himself, the more “stuck” he became. Because of his circumstances, this cistern became a literal storm pit for this prophet.
Jeremiah was thrown into that pit by men who did not like the message he was bringing to Judah. He did not “choose” to be in the pit, nor did he deserve to be in the pit – he was PUT into the pit. Similarly, the people of Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, Tuscaloosa, and other areas did not choose, nor deserve, to be thrown into the storm pit on April 27th. And like Jeremiah, the survivors in these towns are desperately trying to free themselves from the pits of depression and sheer shock.
Do you know how Jeremiah was saved from the pit? A eunuch in the King’s court heard about the injustice done to Jeremiah. A eunuch is normally in charge of the King’s wives and concubines. Can you imagine one man tending to that many women? It just kind of makes me chuckle!
Ebed-melech was this eunuch’s name and he had enough courage and empathy to approach the King about Jeremiah’s situation. He told the King that Jeremiah had done nothing illegal and he was being punished unjustly. God opened the King’s heart that day to this message and told Ebed-melech that he could save Jeremiah from his “storm” pit. Furthermore, the King gave permission for Ebed to take 30 men to help.
That tells you a little about how STUCK Jeremiah would have been in this pit. It is going to take the strength of this many men to pull him out.
Now Ebed could’ve gone straight to the pit with his 30 helpers, tossed down a rope, and heave-hoed Jeremiah right up to the top. However, Ebed knew that would injure Jeremiah greatly – possibly causing severe rope burns and broken or dislocated bones. So, instead, he first went to a storage room in the King’s palace and gathered up a bunch of worn out clothes and rags. When he and the men got to the pit, they didn’t carelessly throw them down where they could’ve become just as muddy as Jeremiah was at this point. Ebed let them down with ropes and told Jeremiah to put them under his armpits where the ropes would be touching him.
For some reason, this image of the soft cloths being provided to Jeremiah just touched my heart. Ebed-melech not only had courage and empathy to speak up to the King (which was a very risky move by the way), but he was also compassionate in the way he rescued Jeremiah. Boy, we as Christians can learn a huge lesson from this.
Where is our compassion level?
Do we take risk to stop and help another in a time of trouble or do we just pass by their sad little “pit” so we are not inconvenienced? Besides – we don’t even know them, we surely do not have the time to help, and my goodness – we do not want to get ourselves muddy! Lord, help us! Jesus took time and risks to help multitudes of people – He even touched lepers. Jesus could have healed the leprosy without His gentle touch, but he knew that leper needed to be touched for his emotional healing. The scripture tells us in Mark 1:41 that “Jesus was moved with compassion” toward this leprous man.
I started this post by telling you how the storms had literally flip-flopped hundreds of lives in our state. My ministry coordinated a collection of new Yellow-Box flip flops that were distributed to women in these areas by my Underwood Baptist Connection Group and lots of friends over the past two weekends. The message was simple – God can upright a flip-flopped life! The donations from individuals and churches have overwhelmed my heart – over 250 pairs were donated! Most women cannot run a chainsaw, but we certainly can reach out in compassion with a simple gift that made the women of these tornado-ravaged cities smile. We prayed with many of them as tears streamed down their faces. I guess it was our way of putting some soft cloths under their arms and attempting to lift them from their storm pit.
Continue to pray for these precious people. Even though the debris is being cleared, they still have many hard days ahead. Ask God what you can do to help ease their pain as they ascend from the storm pit. God will lay something on your heart – maybe something as simple as what my sweet friend did one morning on her way to work. She saw this sweet lady (picture below) picking up bricks in her yard that had come from her destroyed home. My friend just stopped, listened to her story, and offered to bring her teenage son back on the weekend to help her. That is what I call a soft rag under the armpit to ease the pain!
Hey guys. During our Yellow Box drive, I had asked Shelly if I could grab a pair for a friend from Phil Campbell, whose house was completely destroyed from the tornadoes. After all, this friend wouldn’t even be in Phil Campbell to even deliver the shoes to, so I would go to her, where she is staying with her mom! I sent the flip flops to her, and here is the letter I received from her:
Mrs. West & Shine Ministries, Thank you so much for your kindness shown to us during the loss of our home in the April 27th storms. Thanks so much for the YB flip flops. I love them! Most of all thank you for your prayers. We have been so blessed by the outpouring of love during this difficult time. God bless you! Love, Jessica Holland (Susan Angel’s daughter)