The effects of Hurricane Fabian’s visit to Bermuda in September of 2003 had left an indelible imprint on our minds. We had been there when the hurricane had ravaged the island with the highest recorded winds in its history. As we left the following week, we had to wait to cross a temporary roadway to the airport. At the airport itself, we witnessed devastation on many of the buildings, and a ceiling had fallen in the room next to ours as we waited to depart for home. Those were the final impressions, but others had been imprinted throughout the week.
As our plane landed on the tarmac in December 2004, we wondered just how much had been done to correct the damage we still held deep in our minds. The causeway had been reconstructed; the south shore road had just re-opened, trees had been trimmed, and new foliage was out in abundance. A section of one of the hotels had been demolished, but the beaches had been restored, and while construction continued on other projects, we could see that the majority of the damages had been cared for. Bermuda once again held the aura of a perfect tourist paradise.
Most of us have encountered hurricane-force situations in our lives. When they came, we were convinced that we had been proportioned more than any other person with a similar situation. Perhaps it was a physical battle with cardiac or cancer problems. Yours was one of those that seemed to have no end. In fact, it may still exist. Then, there is the possibility that a catastrophe tore open the well-established functions of the family; someone fell. That someone was not the one you expected to fall, and your faith has faltered momentarily. A divorce, a suicide, a death, an act of adultery, a gay member, something of a similar magnitude may have touched your life, personally or sufficiently close to make you hurt, hurt, hurt.
What have you done, or what do you intend to do about it? You can sit back and mope, or you can take the bull by the horns and start rebuilding. At one point the Bermuda Government turned down help from Great Britain. They offered tents and tarps, and navy personnel, but Bermuda needed qualified people with construction ability.
The re-construction has been slow and tedious, but it has been consistent. What we observed was the end result of that consistency. So it is with our lives; we fall, but we do not allow ourselves to remain there. Get up, repent, begin to rebuild by studying God’s Word and exercising the discipline of prayer. If others are involved, seek their forgiveness.
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 NASB)
Fix you gaze on Jesus and you will discover the joy of rebuilding.
ETCetera 