The River Church Update

RIVER UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

What is that noise?  A terrible grinding, pounding, thrashing sound, combined into a terrifying roar was just outside our house.  We crept out onto the deck and tried to see, peering into the darkness and torrential rain.  We couldn't see anything, not that first night, but we could hear!  The South Fork of the Saint Vrain river hadn't just risen, it had formed a massive fist, smashing through the valley on the other side of the road.  That first night was a night of sounds – drenching rain and vicious thunder; the sound of silence when the power was lost; the sound of the phone, ringing at 2 a.m.; mournful sirens – but most alarming, the terrible, thundering roar of the river.  

Before

After

The next day, our eyes began to see what our ears could only imagine.  It was worse, so very much worse, than what we had feared.  Lyons had been devastated. Massive trees were surging by in the river.  Hundreds of people were emerging from the rubble in neighborhoods around town, with shock and disbelief.It wasn't easy, but we made our way over to the church building to see if it was still standing.  Six feet of water was pounding up against the far wall. Anywhere you went in town that day, overpowering everything you could see, was the concussive thumping and crashing, the menacing full-throated growl of the three rivers that converged on Lyons and were smashing our little town.

In the midst of that deafening noise, I learned all over again how God speaks to us, even in the midst of worst of times.  He promised His people, as they were about to lose their homes and be "evacuated" by force,  to live in a hostile country, that He would speak to them.  He said:

Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left. (Isaiah 30:20-21 NAS)

These promises have been fulfilled to us who trust in Jesus.  When everything seems overwhelming, when we can't imagine what to do, that is the time to look for our Teacher, Jesus, the time to listen for His voice. He has promised to be with us no matter what the storm and we take Him at His Word!

Serving Him with you, Pastor Mickey