Moore, OK: Living proof of God's amazing grace

"It's remarkable we've had so few deaths... quite remarkable," said Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. 

Agreed, but I choose to attribute that fact to PRAYER. Personally, I was praying against such storms along with a group of woman who'd attended a Bible study I was teaching, minutes before I heard another woman pop-in and share what she'd just heard on the news about Moore. Incidentally, the subject of my Bible study was "Prayer."
For what it's worth, here's my opinion about the Moore, Oklahoma tornado: God has been gracious and merciful!

How can I say that? Think about it, a 2-mile wide EF5 tornado, churning in one place at over 200 MPH for about 40 minutes - a very long time by tornado standards - yet resulting in a mere 24 deaths. That's incredible! In my mind, that's not unlike taking a hand-mixer to an ant hill. They say it released as much as 600 times more energy than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. In contrast, the Joplin tornado held a final death count of 158 and injuring hundreds more. Sure, the town has experienced devastation and people lost lots of material and irreplaceable stuff. But even though 9 kids died, seven of those tragic deaths weren't even a result of the monster tornado; it's been reported that they drowned. Horrible as that may be, if the tornado were a hit-man, the "hit" must be considered a failure.

See, Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy. I'm not trying to make light of the fact, but only a few people were killed in Moore. Houses, buildings and schools were obliterated. But miracles abound and we are hearing one miraculous story after another as the days go by. The Bible instructs us to "give thanks at all times." It stands to reason, that would include a devastating twister.

Yes, folks in Moore are an emotional wreck at the moment. They stared Death in the face and emerged alive, but most are, understandably, deeply distressed nonetheless. Can you imagine losing everything you own from photo albums to cars to businesses and everything you were so familiar with? Yes, on a sentimental scale, this disaster rates a 10. Lives were altered; some were forever changed. For many, it was the end of the world as they knew it. As a Chaplain with the Austin Disaster Relief Network (ADRN) I've just been deployed to Moore and cannot wait to bring "Christ in me, the hope of glory" into the midst of that mess.

But our God gives beauty for ashes. A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. He will not allow Satan to test us beyond what we can bear, no more than He allowed Satan to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. 

Speaking of Satan, he's a loser who ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot. He always overplays his hand and he never wins. Moore will come out of this smelling like a rose. One might say Moore, OK is going to be OK! But they need your prayers. They need your donations.

For perspective, the longest tornado path on record was the Great Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925, the deadliest tornado in U.S. History which inflicted 695 fatalities along a path of destruction 219 miles long. The Moore tornado was 17 miles long. Don't run from so-called "Tornado Alley." The tornadoes spawned there have been relatively quiet in contrast to the 50's through 70's. So much for the global warming theory.

Now you know.

Jesus is Lord of Moore, Oklahoma! Allow Him to be the Lord - the Owner - of whatever disaster you might be facing right now.

Every blessing,

Michael Tummillo