When Hurricane Katrina landed in New Orleans six years ago, it changed my life and the lives of many other people. Covering 108,000 square miles, flooding over 275,000 homes and businesses, and taking the lives of over 1500 people, Katrina threatened to destroy a region. But in response to devastation wrought by the giant storm, people from within the Gulf Coast region and throughout the world responded in incredible ways to help our region overcome this great tragedy. Even more importantly, the Lord was at work bringing help, hope and healing to people’s lives and to our region in incredible ways. And throughout these past six years, I have learned many lessons from this tragedy and the incredible responses to this tragedy.

First, I’ve learned that “storms” are a part of life. I’m not just talking about natural storms like hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, etc. But people continuously go through emotional, financial, physical, relational, spiritual and vocational “storms” in their lives. As Jesus predicted in John 16:33, we’re always going to experience trouble or “storms” in this life.

Second, I’ve learned that God is all-powerful, and that He can circumvent the impact of “storms” in our life. I reflect on the fact that while people were praying, Hurricane Katrina turned east at the last moment, sparing the largest metropolitan area on the Gulf Coast the brunt of its wrath. I think also of the fact that two weeks before the storm the Lord provided a new place of worship for the Celebration Congregation that enabled us to regroup and resume growing as a church family. We didn’t even know why we were acquiring the Crescent City property. We only knew that the Lord wanted us to. But God knew that a storm was coming and He was preparing for us in an unexpected way so that we could survive the aftermath of Katrina.

Third, I’ve learned that the Lord will be with us through the “storms” of life. We are told in the Gospels that Jesus was with His disciples while they were going through a storm, and the Bible promises us over and over that the Lord will be with us in the midst of our “storms.” In Matthew 28:20 Jesus said that He would be with us “till the end of the age,” and in Hebrews 13:5 the Lord says that He will never “leave us nor forsake us.” In the Amplified Bible, Hebrews 13:5 reads, “For He (God) Himself has said, ‘I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you – I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake you nor let you down, nor relax my hold on you. I will not, I will not, I will not’!” We can count on the Lord’s presence in the midst of our storms.

Fourth, I’ve learned that God speaks to us through the “storms” of life. The Lord is always speaking to His people (John 10:27). Oftentimes He speaks to us through the Bible, prayer or through other mature Christians, but sometimes He speaks to us through the circumstances and situations of life. The name “Katrina” means “cleansing,” and through the giant hurricane the Lord reminded me and many others that He wants to clean up our region – ridding it of poverty, addictions, corruption, immorality, idolatry and all kinds of other things.

Fifth, I’ve learned that the Lord uses the “storms” of life to make us more like Jesus. Why does the Lord allow difficulties and adversity in our lives? I believe He allows those things in order to get us to turn to Him and trust in Him. But He also allows difficulties and adversity because He uses them to make us more like Jesus. Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-4 that “problems are good for us because they develop the character of Jesus in us.” And we all need to become more and more like Jesus.

Tomorrow, I’m going to blog about some of the other “lessons” I learned from Hurricane Katrina. In the meantime, feel free to share with me some of the lessons you learned from Hurricane Katrina.