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Never too late to pray about Australian floods
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
“Shock.” “Like a war zone.” ”A wall of water.” ”An inland tsunami.” These are all words being used to describe severe floods affecting Queensland, a state in Australia. Another word being used is waiting. People are waiting for rivers to peak, for the moment to evacuate, for flood levels to go down. They are waiting for electric power to be reconnected to thousands of homes and businesses, and waiting in line to buy staple foods. People are also waiting to hear if loved ones have been found and are safe.
I was praying about this while I was reading the weekly Bible Lesson in The Christian Science Quarterly. It includes the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from death, and I was struck by the fact that Lazarus came forth from the tomb after he had been in the grave for four days (see John 11:39). I took this as a direct message that it is never too late to pray about a situation. I realized that while “time” and its passing may seem significant, it actually has no power of its own, unless we mindlessly let it influence us. Time and waiting cannot defraud us from feeling the constant activity of God as Spirit, sustaining every element of His creation.
I decided to extend this fresh sense of time being helpless to influence conditions, by challenging the sense of waiting that seems so big a factor for people affected by the floods. The frustration of waiting can be overthrown by realizing in prayer the immediacy of God’s powerful care. Love, a name for God, is divine power, extending itself to every corner of being – every corner of the universe, every corner of consciousness--until its presence is fully felt by the individual and by all people. And because Love is eternal, this loving care is present now, has been and will be present always, hour by hour – whatever the weather is doing. Or has done.
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