Friday night and early Saturday morning, December 10 and 11, 2021, a massive tornado swept across Kentucky. It was on the ground in Kentucky for nearly 200 miles. It was destructive and life-taking.
At bedtime that night, I prayed for the Lord to protect Becky and me through the night and that He would protect our house here in central Kentucky. Around 3 AM, we were awakened by the tornado sirens, and our phones started going off with code-red alerts. We did the drill, shutting all our interior doors, gathering our two cats, and shutting ourselves up in our utility room, the only room in our small one-story house that does not have an outside wall. As we waited, we could hear it approaching when it got over us, the wall I was leaning against started swaying back and forth for maybe a minute.
Five confirmed tornados touched down in our county. One a half-mile from our house. There are buildings in our city that lost their entire roofs. There are uprooted trees, blown over road signs, trees broken off like toothpicks. The hanger and twelve planes at our small airport were destroyed—Just twisted metal scattered over the airfield.
Becky and I were protected through it all, and our property saw no damage—not even a missing shingle. Thank you, Jesus! There was twisted metal in our backyard deposited by the storm from somewhere else, but that is it. I praise the Lord for being with us, helping us ride out the storm, answering our prayers. "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20 NLT).
The devil knows his time is short, so he amps up his tactic to steal, kill, and destroy through pandemics, civil unrest, and division, intensifying storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, drought, and famine. There is also a great falling away from Scripture and faith. The love of many has grown cold. It will get a lot worse as the return of Christ draws nearer. Pray with me for a great awakening as we wait, watch, and pray. Jesus is our only hope.
Beloved, Jesus gives us power and will ride out the storms of life with us. I encourage you to draw on the power that He gives and not your strength. "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil" (Ephesians 6:10-11 ESV).