Mr. Sugg was a member of the former Trinity PRC in Houston, Texas.

Written in the teeth of Hurricane Ike, September 12, 2008.

Our gracious Father in heaven, we tremble before Thy sovereign power shown forth in the blasting storm and ravaging flood and all such as the worldly call tragic, natural events. Hold before us and for all the world to see that these are not horrific destructions that capriciously fall upon men from time to time, but are in truth public displays of the directed power of Thy sovereign hand.

Strengthen our courage in proclaiming this before men, for we know that most will turn their backs on us—and on Thee—in their proud rebellion, blasphemously declaring that even if there is a God, they will not have such a one as Thou art.

Help us be witness that all things come from Thy royal scepter, from spinning the earth about its axis, to breathing life into a newborn babe, to working the eternal destiny of every man. Help us, O Lord, for in the face of Thy fearsome earthly cataclysms our own bodies quake, and we, too, earnestly long to be spared. Deliver us, if it be Thy will, and strengthen our frailties in these godless days. Lift our hearts to reach up to Thee by the power of Thy Holy Spirit to give praise and awe-filled honor that it is in Thy providential counsel to send forth such terror and dread. Thy ways are not our ways. They are past our finding out. Yet surely these calamities do sound forth thunderous forewarnings of that Day of Thy fury when Thou wilt destroy the whole earth by fire, and with it all wickedness, evil, and sin.

We pray, O God, as our flesh trembles before these disastrous foreshadows, that Thou wilt give us true hearts to witness before men that we bow before Thee in awestruck, loving submission to Thy sovereign purpose in all things.

And keep our hearts alive to this, especially when all may seem to be well with us in the world.

For our Lord and Savior’s sake, draw us close to Thee, that our feet may rest more lightly upon the earth. Amen.

Joel Sugg