In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the US Gulf Coast and displaced an estimated 1.3 million households. With cities and towns evacuated, homes destroyed, and jobs gone, people relocated to communities in every state including Alaska and Hawaii. Because Christians are not immune to the storms of life, it’s likely that thousands of people who love the Lord found themselves in places they never expected to live.

Yet many of those same people whose hopes and plans were shattered by Katrina would also bring God’s love to others across the US. Like the early Christians who were forced out of Jerusalem by persecution, it could be said of them: “Those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the Word” (Acts 8:4).

While none of us would choose this kind of financial loss and disruption, would we see it as an opportunity to share the hope Jesus Christ has given us?

The apostle Peter’s letter reminded Christians who had been scattered among the nations to “be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).

If we are uprooted, we can scatter the seeds of the gospel wherever we go.  — David C. McCasland