Hurricane Helene and Psalm 46

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," Psalm 46:1. (ESV.)

It's hard to understand something until you've experienced it. I believed the above verse, of course, but in a broad sense. To me, the Psalm merely reiterated my knowledge that God was always with me, being my strength. But I did like the Psalm for several reasons. 1. It was one of my grandma's favorites, 2. it is one of several that my family and I have memorized, 3. I think it is beautiful and 4. when I was younger, it was probably one of the more exciting Psalms, speaking of wars, spears shattering, chariots burning, and bows breaking.

 But now, this Psalm is very meaningful to me and will likely be one of my favorites for a long time to come, for a specific reason. That reason is Hurricane Helene.

I'm sure you know that the hurricane hit Florida last weekend. It destroyed many, many buildings, my aunt's Airbnb's and house being among them. It was called "unprecedented" by the Franklin Graham organization, has destroyed anywhere from 15 to 26 billion dollars of property damage and has killed at least 190 people.

But Florida was not the only place badly impacted by the hurricane. Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee were also devastated by Hurricane Helene, flooding and breached dams being the primary source of the damage. The storm didn't hit as hard as it did in Florida; but, unlike the Floridians, the people in the Smoky Mountains weren't prepared for it.

I live in Eastern Tennessee (in an undisclosed location 😉), which is now only twenty miles from an underwater town. Not far from that town, in Western North Carolina, roads are ruined, towns swamped, and houses riding down the usually peaceful rivers that snake through the Appalachian Mountains.

For me, much of the damage is very personal. Almost every single one of my favorite towns has been ruined; some almost irreparably. Maggie Valley, where we get our Christmas tree every year after staying in a hotel overnight was badly flooded. Nearby, Lake Junaluska, the site of a week-long writing camp associated with The Young Writer's Workshop, received torrential rain, leading to the belief that its dam was going to fail. (Thank goodness it didn't!) Hot Springs, the site of hiking and camping memories, faces enormous setbacks. Chimney Rock town and the once beautiful Lake Lure are swept away almost completely. Newport, well remembered as the site where I wrote a pivotal scene in one of my first stories, was underwater this week. Parts of my favorite road, I-40 through the Appalachian Mountains, are closed until September 2025. Asheville, North Carolina is cut off from the outside world...In a nutshell, some of the places with the best memories have been the most hurt. Visions of autumn hikes seem rather faded, while images that I have seen are barely recognizable as some of the places I love most.

And yet, as much as all of it hurts, I can't help thanking God over and over for protecting me and my family last weekend. I know that many Christians lost everything, even their lives, in this hurricane. As Isaiah 55:8-9 states: "... (M)y thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." While I don't understand why God chose to protect me and my family, I am very thankful that He did. Verses 2 and 3 of Psalm 46 say, "Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling." I can deeply relate to this verse for obvious reasons. As we saw reports of places everywhere around us, rivers were pouring forth their contents onto towns, mountainsides were sliding, and dams were faltering. I felt like Psalm 46 played out in front of me last weekend.

Hurricane Helene made Psalm 46 a reality for me. I was able to see God as a fortress, holding us steady during the storms and devastation. In the future, this Psalm will be much more personal to me, as the images of floods and mountains falling apart remind me of Hurricane Helene and God's protection over my family in the midst of it.