The Furniture Store on the Floodwaters

When Hurricane Harvey stalled over Houston in August 2017, dumping more than fifty inches of rain in four days, the city became an inland sea. Highways vanished beneath brown water. Families climbed onto rooftops clutching children and pets. The earth, as the psalmist would say, seemed to give way beneath their feet, the waters roaring and foaming on every side.

In the middle of that chaos, Jim McIngvale — known to Houstonians as "Mattress Mack" — threw open the doors of his two Gallery Furniture stores. He sent his delivery trucks into flooded neighborhoods to rescue stranded families. Hundreds, then thousands, poured in. They slept on display mattresses, ate hot meals prepared in the store's cafe, and found dry ground while the world outside churned.

What McIngvale offered was a picture of what the psalmist already knew: that even when nations are in uproar and the mountains quake with surging waters, God is a refuge. "God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day." The Almighty does not wait for the storm to pass before showing up. He is already present in the flood, already opening doors, already making a place of shelter.

The waters receded. Houston rebuilt. And the God who breaks the bow and shatters the spear had once again proven that His stillness is stronger than any storm.