With the challenge of dealing with the pain and wreckage left by Hurricane Katrina, we must focus on the word and purpose of God. Only in God can we find true comfort and relief. In the flesh, we cannot imagine what good could possibly come from such a tragedy. Devastation of this magnitude invades the third world countries at an enormous proportion and we grieve for those affected but now that it is in our midst, knocking at our back door, we view it a bit more clearly. We might question, how can we dare profess the goodness of God to those who have lost so much. Romans 8:28 states And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (NKJV) We ask ourselves what purpose could there be for such confusion and despair. What purpose can be fulfilled from the lost of loved ones, livelihood and home. I’m sure countless souls have posed many similar questions to our clergy across the nation. Despite the fact that it sounds cliché, truly God only knows. He only knows the real purpose of any event, substantial or trivial. So even though we don’t have the answers, we can’t foresee the future and we can’t explain the outcome, we still have to profess our belief in a loving God. We must stand by our conviction in respect to this enormous incident as though it was a personal attack from the enemy on our own household. We must believe that our God is well able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. The vast amount of time, monies and energy that will be needed for reconstruction of the cities and towns cannot be ignored but our ultimate focal point should be the restoration of people’s spirit. Where the government’s point of interest is a physical revival of that region, we as brethren have to also uplift the life-force of our fellowman. We should strongly support the relief efforts by donating goods, finances and our time but we cannot abandon the realm of daily conversation with God. We must stand in the gap. We should be praying daily for those who are overcome with grief that they receive strength to endure the hardships that come with such a disaster. We have to pray continuously for those who have volunteered their services to help restore the lives of the displaced and dismayed. Also praying diligently for the faith of the body of Christ to hold true. That when called upon, we represent Him well. Be blessed.