It never rains in California
But girl, don’t they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours
The residents of the Golden State know the lyrics of the old Albert Hammond song to be true. They’ve seen it pour water from the sky. They’ve seen floods rage. They’ve seen their homes carried down mountainsides, into the waiting mouth of the Pacific Ocean.
That’s exactly what happened this past spring in Montecito, an unincorporated community in Santa Barbara County, California. Just weeks after wildfires ravaged the region, a phenomenon known as the “Pineapple Express” – a persistent river of moisture – entered the region. And it refused to leave.
Once the ground was saturated, the water had no place to go and began to destroy both property and lives. Horrific mudslides sent tons of mud and debris down hillsides, killing dozens.
Thousands were evacuated. Many people lost everything – their personal possessions, their cars, their homes…
One of the residents told the Los Angeles Times, “We have evacuation fatigue. We don’t drive on the main street to get to our house anymore. It’s too difficult to look at the damage.” He added that he and his wife were “haunted by memories of smashed homes and cars crushed by boulders.”
It is in this atmosphere of shock, dismay, and sadness that members of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara began to share the hope and life of God’s Word. Realizing the great need and spiritual hunger in the aftermath of the disaster, they turned to Biblica for resources. We provided them with a booklet called When Your Whole World Changes.
Biblica developed When Your Whole World Changes specifically for people who have encountered a crisis – people like the Montecito flood victims.
“Nobody thinks it will happen to them,” the introduction of the booklet says. “And then it happens.”
Over the course of 30 daily devotions, readers encounter Scripture, reflect on questions, and have the opportunity to journal their observations and thoughts. The goal of this resource is spiritual and emotional healing.
“Your whole world has changed,” the final page of the book says. “Sure, you’ve experienced pain and loss and darkness before, but these things have broken into your life in a deeper way. The pain is more intense, the loss more agonizing, the darkness more suffocating. You can begin finding help – one day at a time.”
When everything else changes, God and His Word remain the same, providing the hope we need to overcome and move forward.
“Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” – Psalm 119:89, NIV
