Things I Learned from Hurricane Matthew

1. A flood and a storm surge are NOT the same thing. Last year we had what the weather people called “A 1,000 Year Flood.” There had not been a flood like that in a really long time, and it would be a really long time before we saw another such flood. I live on a tidal creek, so we did have a lot of water in our yard during that flood. It was the most my husband had ever seen, and he has lived on our street his entire life. The water almost came into our shed (6 inches to go). It was 20 feet from our back steps. All was well. So, as we prepared for Hurricane Matthew, we got ready for wind damage, trees falling, not water. We have almost 40 large trees in our yard. We claim the two tallest pine trees in our neighborhood, so this was a concern. We piled things in the shed at low levels, in case a tree or big branch fell on the roof: weed eaters, battery chargers, generators, things with motors that shouldn’t get wet. The shed already houses 3 freezers and my husband’s Harley – things that also shouldn’t get wet. We packed it all in, closed the door, and thought we were good. I went to my father’s house about a mile away. My husband went down the road to his sister’s. He wanted to be close in order to keep an eye on things. We had already seen what a 1,000 year flood could do, but as the hurricane force winds pushed the high tide into our yard, we realized a storm surge is NOT a flood. The water kept creeping into our yard, onto the carport, into the shed, up to the back steps. Things floated around in the sea of our yard: fire wood, buckets, dock poles, tires. Salty water seeped into every motor in the shed. My husband called me every few minutes with an update. There wasn’t anything he could do but watch and pray. In a situation like this, that is all you can do, which leads me to the second thing I learned. 2. God answers prayers! This, of course, is not a new thing I learned from Hurricane Matthew, but I was certainly reminded of it time and again as reports from my friends came in, friends I had been praying for. One friend’s house in downtown Charleston was thought to be under water. Praise the LORD, the street was a little flooded, but that was it! Another friend who lives on the beach thought her house would be demolished in the wind and water. It stood strong and she was out collecting conchs on the beach the next day, all her worries gone. Thank You, LORD! The praise reports kept pouring in. My phone kept lighting up with good news. What could have been terrible blew past us. God is good! I keep thinking about how often our LORD protects us from danger. Sometimes it is things we anticipate and are anxious about. Sometimes it is things we don’t even see. These things blow past us at the hand of our LORD. I keep thinking about David’s song to the LORD in Psalm 32 verses 6 and 7:

“Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah!”

The LORD is our hiding place. He protects us from trouble. And we who braved Hurricane Matthew are singing songs of deliverance today. Selah! Praise You, LORD! Thank You for Your great love!