When the power went out Monday afternoon it was both unsurprising and unwelcome. So much of our electrical grid is above ground, and we have seemingly more trees crowding our power lines than anywhere else in the county, so the onset of Tropical Storm Debby was bound to disrupt the power here. Unfortunately, it disrupted power in lots of other places and when that happens, assistance goes first to places where the repair crews and vehicles can drive. Plus, if there’s a problem with one of the main transmission lines that feeds our island grid, it doesn’t make sense to fix our problems until the larger problems are resolved.
It is easy to complain about the fact that we are the last folks to get power restored, but not only is that scenario reasonable, it is also predictable. After all, everyone who lives here knows that we have to take a boat to get to the mainland, and that we don’t have a power plant here generating electricity for the island. While there is a service yard where the power company keeps a few vehicles and some equipment, residents also know that no one from the power company either lives here or is stationed here. When power goes out broadly throughout the region, we will be the last to get power restored. So, if the scenario is both reasonable and predictable, then doesn’t it make sense to be prepared for it?
While this conclusion may seem reasonable, it still requires more thinking about an unpleasant topic than most would like to do. Further, for the first ten years that my family and I lived here, we never went a full 24-hour period without power, so it didn’t seem necessary to think more deeply about it. However, in 2016, Tropical Storm Hermine knocked out the power for 36 hours, and then Hurricane Matthew knocked it out for eight days. When experience so clearly reveals the truth of a situation, not much additional thought is required. As a result, many of our island residents now have some sort of generator that they can use in times like this week.
Now, not to get too morbid in the wake of a storm, but there’s another scenario ahead that is both reasonable and predictable – your death. The timing may be uncertain, but it is inevitable, and therefore you really should be prepared for it. Yes, there are legal issues that you should clarify in writing beforehand, and discussions with loved ones to have, but there is also the matter of your relationship with God our Creator that needs to be addressed. Just as the inevitability of issues with power on our island is easy to see if only one gives some thought to conditions that are readily seen, the Apostle Paul writes that God’s eternal power and divine nature can be seen clearly and understood by what has been made, so that people are without excuse (Romans 1:20).
Just as you can get a generator to help you when the power fails, you can get right with God before your life comes to an end. Ask yourself how something could come from nothing, how life could come from non-life, and honestly ask whether you describe yourself as good based upon your definition of good, or God’s definition of good. Then come to church on Sunday, pick up the Bible and read it, and ask a pastor or someone you know who is mature in their faith to share the Gospel with you. You are without excuse, so you might as well be prepared.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron