mgpcpastor's blog

Andrew Clarke, pastor of the North Toowoomba Presbyterian Church offers this reflection on the aftermath of the devastating storm and flash-flood which swept through the town last week.
Copied from Andrew’s Facebook page.

The Silence After the Storm
by Andrew Clarke on Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 10:29am
[Andrew has written this piece for his local paper (for 20th January).]

After the Toowoomba Tsunami, silence is a luxury.
I watch the sudden profusion of butterflies in the front garden, and think of the chaos theory that says that all the destruction around us can be traced back to the flap of one of their wings. Have they come to confess their shame or to admire their power?
But then the thumping rescue helicopters rise again from Murphy’s Creek, where only the army can penetrate the devastation. What have they found? We prepare ourselves for pain, like when the phone rings in the middle of the night.
A morbid curiosity has kept us turning back to the television for days. It is called “news” but really seems like entertainment. Another scene, another development, another statistic. We love and hate the drama.
Our political leaders assure us of their “thoughts” with hardly a mention of “prayers”. The bottom line, they say, is that we have the ability to get through this together.
Yet according to Jesus, this is not the moral of the story. The calamities of this world serve to awaken us to the fragility of our lives. They point us to a safety that does not depend on the weather or our health and possessions. All of this can be swept away, and will be sooner or later, but the rescue that Jesus gives lasts forever.
Our hearts ache for those who have lost family and friends. We should do all we can for those whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. But the deliverance we all need is one that only Jesus can provide. He said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Jesus presents us with the astonishing prospect of a new and perfect creation. When He calmed the waves and healed and fed, He was showing us a crack in the wall into His eternal kingdom. When He died for our sins and rose again for our salvation, He was opening the door to this future. Now is the time to pray for this to be yours – in the silence after the storm.