How the Tornado Strengthened My Son's Faith

Contrary to my recent post about ordinary weekends, last weekend was anything BUT ordinary. 
 

My husband and I were on our way home when my 8-year old son called my husband's mobile phone.  His opening line was "Mom! So grabe what happened to us!" I was not alarmed. At least not yet. I just asked "Why? what happened to you?"   Then he said "Well, I was playing Wii in the room and the TV suddenly shut down. I went out of the room and checked the big window [from our hall].  Then I saw a tornado coming towards our house!"  I was a little concerned but I thought 'it could not have been a tornado!' So I prodded further and asked "Who were you with and what did you do?" Then he said "I was with Dawn (my 5-year old daughter) and we called Yaya". Then the three of us hid behind the door of your room because the roof of the basketball court behind us was already flying into the tornado." Okay. That got my attention. And it made me want to be home with my children as fast as I can.

To my knowledge, it is the first time a tornado in this scale has ever hit Manila. Seeing the uprooted trees and fallen posts outside our house was surreal. I could not believe this happened in our city. Floods are frequent and we even prepare ourselves for possible earthquakes. But a tornado is not in the list of natural disasters that we worry about in Manila. The videos that were recorded look like clips from a movie. It was unbelievable.

The tornado has definitely hit Manila big time. But in our own little world, the big tornado was also a big God encounter for our little boy.  You see, a few nights ago while we were having our family Bible study, Troy told us that sometimes he wonders whether God is indeed real. He said it's not always easy for him to believe because he cannot see God. Dennis and I assured him that we understood his concerns. We explained that this is where faith comes in. We told him how answered prayers are God's ways of showing us that He is real. Our son did not look convinced but he said okay. Then we prayed together and Troy prayed that God will help him believe. It's an ironic prayer but isn't that the same prayer uttered by the father of the little sick boy in the book of Mark? "Lord, help me overcome my unbelief"

Then last weekend's tornado happened. That same night, as we were about to sleep, we stayed in bed talking about the tornado. Dawn said "It's the worst day ever!". Then Troy said "You know, Dawn, it's the worst day ever but it's also the happiest day ever!". So I asked him why he said that. He said "Because, mom, Dawn and I could have been hurt by the tornado but we weren't. That makes this the happiest day ever, right?" And I said "You're actually right! Okay, so let's just call this the happiest day ever then".  Then he said "You know, when I saw the tornado coming towards our house. I was thinking the glass in our window will not be strong enough to protect us. But I was not so afraid. I felt that God was like a force field there protecting us."  And right there and then, my son encountered our God, His protector.
 

That night, the tornado cut through the power lines so we did not have electricity. When we got home, my daughter asked if we can pray for the electricity to be restored.  In our prayer, my son said "Lord, please please restore our electricity even while we are praying". I had to do a double prayer to ask God to please please answer his prayer so that he won't be disappointed. But our prayer concluded and the electricity did not come back.

Before we slept, my son prayed his usual bedtime prayer. He thanked God for protecting our family and prayed that nobody got hurt. Then, to my surprise, he thanked God for restoring the electricity.  After he prayed, I asked why he thanked God for restoring the electricity when it clearly hasn't happened yet. Then he said "It's okay. I know God heard us and He will bring back the electricity later". I hugged and kissed him. And tears filled my eyes. I knew God has awakened the faith of our little boy.

 

The tornado last weekend may have uprooted our trees, destroyed our roof, and cut off our electricity. But we will not allow it to destroy our faith. As Genesis 50:20 says "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Amen. Thank you, Lord