The state of Florida, where I live, is known for days of extreme summer heat followed by severe thunderstorms. Growing up, I was accustomed to this climate, but as I became more aware of the destructive effects of extreme weather, I developed an irrational fear of storms, and especially tornadoes, about which I would have nightmares.
In the Christian Science Sunday School, I had always learned that my safety is found in God, unchanging good. Early on I was taught the story of the baby Moses being saved from danger and death by his mother’s wisdom to place him in “an ark of bulrushes” and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile River. He was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, and his life was preserved.
I had memorized the verses in which Elijah learned that the Lord was not in the earthquake, wind, or fire (see I Kings 19:11, 12). And in stilling a strong wind at sea that threatened to capsize their boat, Christ Jesus demonstrated to his disciples that God is not in the wind or any other harmful weather event. There is no power opposed to God and His laws of harmony, and certainly no destructive power.
