I appreciate so much your comments and your sharing of the Hurricane Harvey blog. I was especially moved by comments from people in south Texas, who lost so much and are yet unsure of their future.

I had planned to write a follow-up to that blog regarding the role of faith in the inevitable months and years that lie ahead for residents of the Gulf coast area of Texas and Louisiana.  But, here comes Irma. In a few days, there will be many more people in crisis…people whom we must not forget.

Hurricane Irma provides a harsh backdrop for faith.  What is faith’s place in the storm, whether a storm such as Harvey, Irma, or Jose?  Or how does faith matter in storms of life, such as crises of health or finance or relational conflict?  What ought people of faith do while staring into the long face of calamity, especially as that storm goes on for days, weeks, months, and even years? When the news cycle moves on, but the pain remains, remember this word: ὑπομονὴ.

I’ll spare you the Greek going forward; but in English, the word sounds like “hupomonay.” If you asked congregants in the five churches that I pastored over the years, “What is Allen’s favorite word in the New Testament?” I would hope that most of them would be able to tell you “hupomonay.” (For some examples, see Matthew 24:13; Romans 5:3; Hebrews 10:36; 1 Thessalonians 1:3.)

When I read the Scriptures, I can’t find the parts where people’s lives were made comfortable because they were believers. If anything, their journeys were more calamitous because they were believers. Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, New International Version).

God has promised so much, and He ALWAYS comes through; but He did not promise that we would have trouble-free journeys. He did not promise that Harvey would miss Houston or that Irma would spin out harmlessly into the Atlantic. He did not promise that disease would pass over our families. What did He promise?  We will have trouble.

But God refuses to leave us drowning in our trouble. God promises that in faith, we will find peace in the midst of it all.

As best I understand Him, peace comes to those who embrace hupomonay in our faith. Peace comes to those who persevere faithfully through our trouble. For those who are looking personally at Harvey’s destruction, hupomonay. For those who are leaving their homes, anxious about what Irma will or won’t spare, hupomonay. For those whose deteriorating physical condition has altered the course of their plans, hupomonay. For those whose lives have been forever changed in one moment, in one phone call, in one bit of news, hupomonay. For those who currently stand unaffected on dry land, pray for others with hupomonay.

Perseverance. We will face adversity; that is God’s promise. What matters is what we do in response to it. I suggest that peace comes to those who respond with hupomonay.

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