A Visit with the Joneses

Carol Jones Saint: Hello, hello there. Come right in to enjoy a special time of family devotions at Home Sweet Home. This is part two in our series about storms of life. Certainly, each one of us in the living room here, I'm sure we're all facing serious storms of many, many different kinds.

In Isaiah the 25th chapter we read a very, very special verse, verse four. "For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a refuge from the storm, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." That is what it seems sometimes as the wind starts to blow and the storms rage, and we can find shelter in Jesus Christ. We do hope and pray that the music that we have prepared for you and the scripture and the thoughts will be of special help to you as you face some difficult storms in your life at this time.

Bert: Yes. Of course, many people remember Hurricane Hugo. What a tragic and terrible storm Hurricane Hugo was. Of course, none of us will ever forget Hurricane Andrew because they say that it probably is the most terrible natural disaster ever to come to the United States.

Carol Jones Saint: Of course, here in the Erie area, many people will never, never, never forget the terrible storm that hit Albion and just devastated it many, many times.

Bert: Right. The figures for Hurricane Andrew are tremendous. The maximum wind speed was 164 miles per hour. No wonder roofs blew off. No wonder trees fell down. No wonder houses fell flat. 164 miles per hour.

According to Time magazine, there were at least 40 fatalities, some 63,000 homes destroyed, more than 300,000 people homeless for weeks and weeks. The cost was some $30 billion, all because of a storm. No wonder we'll never forget Hurricane Andrew.

Carol Jones Saint: Probably as each individual here thinks of some of the storms that you have weathered in your family, in your own personal life, or maybe storms that you're going through right now, there could not be a price put on that storm. When we think of heartbreak, runaway children, and mothers and fathers that do not know where their young people are at the present time, on and on. The hearts that are tragically broken through storms, how could we ever comprehend a price?

Bert: Though the angry surges roll on my tempest-driven soul, I am peaceful, for I know wildly though the winds may blow. I've an anchor safe and sure that can evermore endure. Mighty tides about me sweep, perils lurk within the deep. Angry clouds o'er shade the sky and the tempest rises high. Still I stand the tempest shock, for my anchor grips the rock.

I can feel the anchor fast as I meet each sudden blast. And the cable, though unseen, bears the heavy strain between. Through the storm I safely ride till the turning of the tide. And it holds, my anchor holds. Blow your wildest then, oh gale, on my bark so small and frail. By His grace I shall not fail, for my anchor holds, my anchor holds.

Sometimes on the rock I tremble, faint of heart and weak of knee. But that steadfast Rock of Ages never trembles under me. Here is a song that was written out of one of the great storms of life that a family had to go through. Attorney Spafford of Chicago, Illinois, received the word that his four daughters were lost at sea when their ship was shipwrecked. Only his wife was rescued. But out of all of that terrible storm, he wrote this song. Listen to the words that came out of a storm.

Carol Jones Saint: Ruth, as you were singing that song, I am thinking of a very dear radio friend, Doris Marburger of Evans City. It was her favorite song and so in loving memory of Mrs. Orrie Marburger, who was a faithful listener. She had to go through a five-week storm of cancer and then the Lord called her home after five weeks.

Bert: There are many others that have gone through similar experiences, some through five years of similar type of illness. What wonderful maturity comes when the Christian can say, "It is well, it is well with my soul." No matter what the storm, I still have peace.

As we think of the storms of life, I am thinking of words we find in Psalm 107. Beginning with verse 23, the Psalmist says, "They that go down to the sea in ships, they that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble."

"They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits' end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they are quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men."

Carol Jones Saint: Those words "they reel to and fro." I was thinking, my, winds of 167 miles an hour, you would do more than reel to and fro. I'm afraid you wouldn't even be able to stand.

Bert: Notice this King James Bible says, "and they are at their wits' end." That's such a modern phrase we think.

Carol Jones Saint: I never dreamed it would be proper way back in 1611 when the King James version was translated. But here it is, "they are at their wits' end." How that describes you and me when we are in the midst of the storm.

Bert: Being at wits' end, they cry unto the Lord in their trouble. He bringeth them out of their distresses and He maketh the storm a calm. I do not know what the storm is that you may be going through today. I do not know how the winds may be raging and the troubles round you flying.

But I do know this, that even when you are at your wits' end, you can cry unto the Lord in your trouble and He can make the storm a calm. He can say, "Peace be still," even to those winds and those waves. Are you at your wits' end today? Then cry unto the Lord in your trouble.

The story is told of a little girl who, for her 10th birthday, was to have a one-week ride in the boat in which her father was the pilot.

Carol Jones Saint: That's a nice gift, isn't it? What could be nicer than a boat ride?

Bert: Sounds very exciting. Wonderful. Every day she and her father, the pilot, would meet in the pilot room and would have devotions together, and they would have prayer for the day. But then one night, a terrible storm arose.

The pilot was at his post at the pilot wheel. Suddenly, he realized someone was pulling at his coat-tail. His little 10-year-old daughter had found her way to the pilot house where she had been so many times before. This time she shouted and said, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, let's kneel down and pray like we do other days."

The pilot answered back and said, "We pray in the calm, but in the midst of the storm, there's work to do." They did their praying in the calm. We pray in the calm, but in the midst of the storm, there's lots of work to do. So it is. The best way to find peace with the Savior is to find your peace in the midst of the peaceful days of life. To know His presence in the peaceful day is to know His presence even in the stormy day.

Carol Jones Saint: That's such a wonderful lesson, Bert, that I think many of us need to learn. You don't suddenly find His peace in the midst of the storm because there are too many other things to do. There are too many things to take care of. If you're on your deathbed in the hospital, you're probably under drugs, and that's not the time to try to find the peace. You have to do that praying in the calm because there's too much work to do in the storm.

Bert: We look forward to the day when the storms of life will be over and we shall know His peace at last when the storms are all passed by.

We trust this radio visit is proving to be a blessing and an inspiration to you. It's right down where all of us live because all of us sooner or later have storms to go through. You can share in this radio visit by sending your offering to A Visit with the Joneses Incorporated, Box 575, Erie, Pennsylvania. That's Box 575, Erie, Pennsylvania 16512, and we would love to hear from you.

The famed author Ernest Hemingway tells in one of his interviews and in one of his books what the strongest thing in the storm is. He had lived for many years in Key West and in Cuba. When a reporter said to him, "What is the strongest thing you know in the midst of the storm?" he said, "The strongest thing in the midst of a storm is a spider's web."

A spider's web is durable. Houses may fall, roofs may deteriorate, and great buildings may go down. Gardens may be uprooted and the trees are gone. But when the storm is over, you will find the spider's webs are still there. The strongest thing in the midst of a storm.

Carol Jones Saint: I think we've noticed that, Bert.

Bert: As I heard those words and as I have indeed noticed it, no matter how rough the Lake Erie winds, the spider webs are still there.

Carol Jones Saint: Still they are.

Bert: I pray, "Oh Lord, help me to weave a web, a web of faith so strong that it will endure the storms of life, no matter what those storms are." When the storm comes, you can ride out the storm by lowering the anchor until it grips the rock. Mother Jones wrote a song about doing just that.

I cannot guarantee to you absence of the storm. But I can guarantee that if the anchor of faith will go deep to grip the Solid Rock, then even in the midst of the storm, you can ride out the storm at sea because the anchor of faith grips the unchanging Rock.

Carol Jones Saint: What a very special joy it has been to have you visiting at Home Sweet Home. It is our prayer that these thoughts that we have shared together, the scripture, and the music will be used by God to help you in some of the very difficult circumstances of life that you may be going through. Don't forget to write us: Post Office Box 575, Erie, Pennsylvania 16512. Until the next time, goodbye.