A few years ago there was a new trend that I noticed developing. It seemed foolish and fascinating at the same time. It probably started with Hurricane Katrina and picked up from there. News organizations began sending camera crews and anchors to stand in the hurricane and do live news reports on scene. So I would watch hour after hour of weather maps and wind gusts and cameras almost get knocked over and people almost get knocked over and things crashing to the ground. Crews were starting to get good at this. With one hurricane they began to use this handheld device that you held into the wind and it would tell you how fast the wind was blowing. The whole scene was overwhelming and I am sure you saw this stuff and would say the same thing.

I was moved at encounter last Sunday when Pastor Shawn and the band sang a song that compared the love of God to a hurricane. I immediately had thoughts of Anderson Cooper standing in his red CNN rain poncho being driven by wind and rain. Clutching to something because it was so powerful that it would blow him over or impale him on something. The intense power, and sweep of area that the hurricane affected were immense. The power is incomprehensible and permeates deeply. How do you not be changed by contact with a hurricane? how could you ever dry off?

As I read the prophets this hurricane of love drives forth. God calling His people to stop ruining their lives and start following Him and finding the blessings that come with that. God as the jilted lover angry that His people have rejected His love. Angry because His love is perfect. And angry because he knows that which he loves will be harmed because of that rejection. God's pain in this is two ways...His pain at His own rejection...and His pain at how our rejection of Him will hurt us. It is amazing to think about.