Following the news coverage of violent storms is both riveting as well as terrifying.

At the time of this writing, Hurricane Ian is growing stronger as it heads toward the southern coast of Florida.

It is expected to progress to a category 4 hurricane and to make landfall either Thursday or Friday.

Some locations are under “voluntary evacuation”  while others are under “mandatory evacuation” orders.

When you know the storm is coming…

· You have the opportunity to relocate to a safer location.

· You have time to gather up your treasured possessions.

· You have the time to contact loved ones.

· You have motivation to fortify your home and place of business.

However, if you know the storm is coming and you do NOTHING…that just does not make much sense.

Obviously, for a myriad of reasons, not everyone can evacuate (sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that force people to stay when they’d rather leave). Nevertheless, everyone can do something to prepare for the oncoming storm.

Spiritually speaking, if we equate “the oncoming storm” with Judgment Day we can learn a lesson or two.

Hurricanes are unpredictable—even the experts cannot predict with precision the direction, speed, and power. They may turn or a dime, suddenly gain strength, or die out sooner than expected.

Judgment Day is also unpredictable. We know it is coming, we just don’t know when (Matt. 24:36; 1 Thess. 5:2).

Since we know that the “storm” of Judgment is coming…

· We have the opportunity to relocate to the only safe location—the church (Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:13).

· We have time to gather up our treasured possessions (Matt. 6:19-22; Luke 12:33).

· We have time to contact loved ones and tell them about the Gospel (Romans 10:13-17).

· We have motivation to fortify our homes (Deut. 6:4-9).

We know the storm is coming. It makes no sense to do nothing about it. In fact, it is sinful and will cost us our souls to be unprepared. When you know the storm is coming, it is wise to be ready and act—to take shelter in the One who has the power over all storms (Mark 4:37-41).