I was on vacation last week in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, where hurricane Florence wreaked havoc in slow-motion destruction. We were notified by local authorities of a mandatory evacuation and that people needed to be off the island by 8 p.m. on Wednesday. At that time, the causeway would be closed to all incoming traffic so if you were still there, you were stuck for the duration.

So alas, half of our vacation was taken from us. This family vacation thing has been a part of our lives for the last decade. We rent a house at the beach big enough for the 12 of us. My wife, the master planner, organizes the whole shebang: schedule, meals, down to basic packing procedures. The first time we did this, our oldest grandchild was only a few weeks old. She’s now in fifth grade and three more grandkids have been added since.

We look forward to this week with great anticipation. As a parent, spending time with my children and grandchildren is one of my life’s greatest joys. It has become very important to me to fashion memories my grandchildren can carry in their hearts for the rest of their lives. There’s an assurance in their memories that you may have done a few things right. So, even though I was disappointed by hurricane Florence’s interruption, I’ve chosen to see it as just another brick inserted in the wall of memories for my offspring and their offspring as well.

Three Life Lessons from Hurricane Florence

Reflecting on last week’s abbreviated holiday, I want to share a few life lessons I took away from hurricane Florence:

1. How you face difficulties is a matter of choice

An aspect of past vacations pertains to unexpected problems. Like the time I shredded my ACL after being hit by a wave, or when sickness ruined the week for a family member, or the time we lost Virgil for about 20 minutes. I recall the lump in my throat and the agonizing prayer hurled toward heaven as we desperately searched—the longest 20 minutes of our lives. Having the week cut short because of a hurricane is just another problem in our litany of trials. Trouble is no respecter of vacations. How we face unexpected difficulties is always a matter of choice, and the best perception is to see the value in them.

How we face unexpected difficulties is always a matter of choice, and the best approach is to perceive the value in them.

When it became clear that Florence’s path would affect our time away, we talked about it as a family, discussing appropriate responses and deciding the best course of action. The beauty of our situation is having the Lord in our lives. Because we know that God is sovereign, we don’t react in anger or resentment. Instead, we figure out how to spend the rest of our week, knowing there is an upside to this unwelcomed interruption.

2. A great reminder of sin’s hazardous effects

How does a hurricane have anything to do with the nature of sin? Simple: it’s a great disruption. Sin has always been a disruption of God’s created order. The essence of sin is taking what the Lord created perfect to an excessive degree or indulging it in an improper way. For example, rain is good and necessary to our existence. Yet, given the degree of excessive rain dumped on the Carolinas by Florence, it becomes not just detrimental but life-threatening.

Just as hurricanes, cyclones, and tornadoes represent natural anomalies, so the moral storm of humanity is a disruption and distortion of that which God created good. Whether it’s sexual promiscuity, the greed of materialism, the violence of hate, or the love of pleasure—all reflect a corruption of God’s creative design. We become so enamored with His gifts that we ignore the Giver. The sad truth is that such aberration always comes with great personal and collective damage. Hurricane Florence is a great reminder of sin’s hazardous effects on us.

3. Resist the hype and maintain perspective

While Florence has caused widespread power outages, flooding and 18 deaths, the media seems bent on ratcheting up the hysteria. You may have seen the reporter bracing himself as if he were battling high winds, only to have a couple of teens stroll behind him as if it were a light shower. The hurricane hype of the media has become a story in and of itself. Even though hurricanes in September happen every year on the Atlantic Coast, they want to you believe this is a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions, even if they have to embellish it.

To put Florence’s impact in perspective: In the past 30 days, 24 homicides have been committed in Baltimore. Suicide rates have jumped 30% since 2000 and is now the second leading cause of death for all Americans from ages 10 to 34. And 650,000 unborn children were aborted in 2014 alone (most recent data). It appears that for the media, short-term ratings are now more important than perspective, and that says a lot about our culture.

So let’s help those suffering from Florence’s impact in the Carolinas--without losing perspective on other grave realities that need our attention.