The twister hit about 8:30 p.m. - a clock in the wreckage of one home was stopped at 8:29. It passed quickly, but it left a wake of horror. That June night in 1953 would never be forgotten by the people living in Flint, Michigan.
Striking at dusk out of an ugly, angry sky, the savage twister spun its way through the lives of six hundred families who were in its path. The loss was severe. One hundred fifteen people lost their lives, and more than two hundred were injured. Estimates placed the damage at over ten million dollars, and that was at replacement prices fifty years ago.
Homeless, heartbroken survivors sadly buried lost family members and friends and then dug forlornly in the ruins to save a few belongings. Somehow they found the strength to carry on and to rebuild.
Newspapers were filled with photographs of the terrible devastation. Incredible stories of escape from the storm often included a paragraph that stated these individuals felt it was an answer to prayer. But tucked away among the tales of distress and heartbreak was an uplifting story.
It seems that the tornado became an “air mail” service and deposited papers and debris as far as two hundred miles away. Insurance papers, letters, tickets and savings bonds, along with bits of rubble, were blown across the Michigan landscape. Mr. Russel Regan, of Crosswell, Michigan, found numerous items on his farm, one of which was a torn page from a Bible. On it was a startling passage: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal [temporary]; but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house . . . were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 4:18; 5:118While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
1For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)).
One question pleads for an answer from you: If you had been one of those one hundred fifteen people who were victims of the tornado, where would you be right now? Would you simply have exchanged your earthly life for a promised eternal life with your Saviour Jesus Christ? Or would you be sent to the darkness of an eternity of God’s wrath against your sins?
It is not an imaginary question, because a time will come when your life here on earth will suddenly end. Death comes to everyone. The Bible clearly says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)). It is the following verse that offers hope to the sinner: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (vs. 28). Because He loves you so deeply, He died for you: “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). Now He is offering you freedom from the punishment for your sins and a future home in heaven. Will you accept His love and His offer of salvation? “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)).
You need to decide right now. Don’t wait until the tornado strikes. Then it will be too late.
ML-11/28/2004