Faith, Resilience, And Community After Hurricane Melissa

When the wind howls and the lights go out, what keeps us on our feet? We open our hearts to the reality of Hurricane Melissa’s impact across Jamaica and the Caribbean and trace a path from shock to steady ground. Our focus is simple and strong: God as a firm foundation, resilience as a shared practice, and hope that breathes even when the roof is gone.

We begin by naming the big question: how do you remain standing before, during, and after a storm that seems set to destroy you?  the hymn that anchors so many of us—On Christ, the solid rock we stand—we explore how scripture steadies the inner life when circumstances unravel. We also face the hard tension head-on: some prayed and still suffered loss. Rather than offering clichés, we hold space for grief and witness to the mercies that did arrive, including lives spared and neighbors showing up.

What moved us most were the ordinary acts of courage and care: people sharing phones at roadside signal spots, cooking for others, and checking on those marooned without power. That is resilience made visible. You’ll hear practical ways to live this out—short prayers when words fail, small steps that restore and simple encouragements you can offer when someone can’t find a song to sing. Along the way, we invite you to remember your own archive of survival and pair it with a grounded trust in Christ’s unchanging presence.

This conversation blends faith, empathy, and practical guidance for anyone facing a physical, emotional, spiritual, or financial storm. If you’ve felt shaken, not destroyed, you are not alone. Press play for comfort, clarity, and a gentle push toward community and courage. If the message strengthens you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope today, and leave a review to help others find this encouragement.

Chapters

• 0:05 Welcome And Purpose Of Show
• 0:52 Framing The Central Question
• 2:38 God As Firm Foundation
• 3:57 Crying Out To Jesus In Crisis
• 6:16 Wrestling With Unanswered Outcomes
• 8:56 Caribbean Resilience And Mutual Aid
• 12:21 Combatting Despair With Scripture
• 15:40 Encouragement To Keep Singing
• 18:25 Remembering Past Wins And Strength

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:05

Hi everyone, welcome. Thank you for joining us today on our positioned for purpose conversations with Collect Marie podcast. I'm your host, Colette Marie. Yes. Our podcast is for women of faith who struggle to see God in the places of pain and hardship and who need a reminder, a gentle reminder, that right where you are, God will use you in the mess, in the hardships, in your most challenging times, in your heartaches and in your pain. God has a greater plan for your story. Romans 8 28 states, For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to his purpose. How do we remain standing before, during, and after a storm that seems set to destroy us? As I look at the ravages of Hurricane Melissa that ravaged Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, my heart broke. But the question I had that just came rushing to my thoughts is this how do you remain standing when it seems all hell is breaking loose around you? How do you remain standing when it seems all hell is breaking loose around you? And then the answer came swiftly because God is your firm foundation. Hi and welcome back. I know this is just such a trying and difficult time for you, but there is one thing that I am assured of is that even in this most challenging and most difficult of times, your spirit will bounce back, your resilience, your hope, and your faith and your trust in God will be renewed and restored. On today's episode, we'll be looking at how we remain standing before, during and after a storm that seems set to destroy us. How do we remain standing before during and after a storm that seems set to destroy us? As I look at the ravages of Hurricane Melissa that ravaged Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, my heart broke. But the question I had that just came rushing to my thoughts is this How do you remain standing when it seems all hell is breaking loose around you? How do you remain standing when it seems all hell is breaking loose around you? And then the answer came swiftly because God is your firm foundation. So as I think of how the description of what persons were going through during the hurricane and just hearing them, I know that it that could not have happened in your own strength. That could that could not have happened in your own strength. When you've not gone through something as catastrophic as that, when you've not gone through an event before that you've heard about it and you think that boy, when I get to that situation, if I ever have this situation, this is how I would have handled it, this is how I would deal with it. But when that situation comes knocking at your doorstep, you will find that it is something totally different, totally different. So whether you are a believer listening or not, in the most challenging of times, when we know there's no way out and no obvious help inside, we cry out to Jesus, the rock on which we stand, and I want to say that again. Whether you are a believer or not, in the most challenging of times, when we know there's no way out and no obvious help inside, we cry out to Jesus, the rock on which we stand. My sisters, in the hardness of our struggles, sometimes we don't see the other person because our focus is on ourselves. And so, as I look back at the footages, I saw people in the same situation or worse, who were helping others in the same situation or worse. So we are talking about being resilient, we are talking about when hell is breaking loose around us, what do we do? And we said that we look to God who is the rock on which we stand, and we say we know that also that God is our firm foundation, and so I know that there are different persons of no belief or other beliefs than me. But there's one thing that I have listened to and I hear people talking, they called on Jesus because they know there was no other help to be found, to be left standing. And I know that there are some people who will say, But what about the others who called on Jesus and their homes were devastated? My simple answer is this. Can you imagine what would have happened if they did not call on him any at all? At least their lives have been spared. They might not have a roof, they might not have a home to go back to. They may be marooned or or cut off from where they are, they might not have electricity or telephone connectivity, but they still have their lives, they are still standing. What I love about this all over the Caribbean, of course, I'm particular to my country, Jamaica, because that's where my focus has been. But I've been looking around the Caribbean at people just coming together and helping each other through a most difficult and trying time. Why the part that stood out to me is persons just getting to help each other. That for me speaks of a spirit of resilience within us. We are bouncing back, but we are also wanting to help others to bounce back as well. It could be simple as cooking a meal for someone else, allowing someone else, you know, we heard about people parking along the roadside where they were able to find network services so that they could tell their loved ones that they're that they're okay, and people were readily able to share this, to give their phones to someone else to make a phone call to say we are okay. And that's the spirit that we want to have as as women, as sisters together, that we're not just focused on the storms that is at our own doorstep when that storm is over, or even during the the cleanup or the rebuilding process, and even during the storm, our thoughts go to our neighbors. What's happening? How are they fearing while we're going through the same thing? And I know it's not easy when we're in a storm, whether it is a physical storm, a spiritual storm, an emotional storm, a financial storm, to be looking at others. But it's in these times that we want to cast our eyes elsewhere. We want to be the feet, the hands and feet of Almighty God extended in this situation. So as long as we have life, we want to be there for someone else. We could be going through a difficult time, but offer prayer to someone else. Give them a word of encouragement to say, I understand what you're going through. I have been there if you have been there. And even if you haven't been there, give them a word that will encourage their hearts as they go through something that seems set to destroy them. That's what community looks like. That's how resilience comes alongside you. Because at the end of the day, especially in this storm, Melissa, that hurricane that came to ravage our islands, that spirit has got to resonate and resurrect on the inside of us so that we can pull each other up because everyone is going through the same situation. But there is one thing that I am assured of, and that is in this, God has not left you alone. God has not left you alone. I remember reading someone's prayer, and the person was saying that what is the purpose of praying? Remember, especially for Jamaica, that that thing was expected to be in the middle of the island. Can you imagine what would have happened if this had taken place? The devastation would be far worse than what we are seeing now. And so, how am I encouraging you in your own personal storm? In your own personal storm, it is that you reach out to God, and I know that there are different beliefs, but my belief is the in the Almighty God, the maker of heaven and earth, the one who created every single thing. It is to him our eyes turn to. In the middle of this storm, I need you. This is what is happening, this is what my needs are, Lord. And I don't know how I'm going to be able to make these payments. I don't know how my family is going to survive, but my hope is in you, my trust is in you, my faith is in you, my confidence is in you, in a father who I know has never failed me and will never fail me yet. And that even if you don't come through from me in the way I am expecting, I am still trusting you, my eyes are still on you, my faith is still on you. Because can I tell you something? It's not easy to still serve and worship Almighty God in the most difficult and trying of times. It is the moment that we feel like giving up, and that's when the enemy comes to whisper his lies in our ears. And so we have to be careful to dismiss those lies. We have to be careful to combat those lies with what the word of God says. Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, nor has it entered into the hearts of men. The thing that God has prepared for them that love him. So we're not just looking at the here and now, we're looking to a future spent with Almighty God for what he prepares for us. Even if we don't receive it in the here and the know there's something greater beyond that. There's something greater beyond that. The Lord is our refuge and help, a very present help in times of trouble. We use that word to combat the lies of the enemy and to strengthen our own self, strengthen our own inner man, strengthen our spirit man within us to say, Come alive, come alive. God has not forsaken us, he will not forsake us. We are going to ride out the storm together because our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' love and righteousness. We dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock we stand, all other ground is sinking sand. And so our hope is there. Our trust is there. Noah, I have listeners back home listening to this. My encouragement to you today, my sisters, is that continue to hold on to Almighty God. Have a song in your spirit. Even I know when you look up in your home, there is no roof, everything is absolutely destroyed. Have a song to sing. And you listen, let's be real. You might not be able to find a song right now. You might not be able to quote a scripture right now, but a commanding that your spirit man at some point in this journey will come alive and remember where you have been and how God has delivered and know that He is not going to leave you alone. You might not have a roof above you, everything may be gone, but God is your present help in times of trouble, and He is going to come through for you. Help is coming. Help is coming. We don't know from when, how long it will take to come, but we are assured that help is coming. That help is coming. So despite the fact that you know we're going through this hardship and this difficulty, we're still looking to help others. That's what resilience is bouncing back from something difficult or challenging, and not just looking at our own selves and our own situation, but we're also looking at others as well. How can we be of assistance? How can we be of assistance? So sometimes we as women we doubt that we are resilient. But if I ask you right now to pause, what are you doing? Sorry, I ask you right now to pause what you're doing. Look back at a time when something happened that you thought would have taken you out mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. How did you overcome that? To be still standing today in your right mind. You might be bruised and a little bit battered, but you overcame. Do you think that's part of resilience coupled with God's divine grace and mercy? I hope you can see it as that. I hope you can see it as that. Because as women, sometimes we we we we we think that we are just so weak and frail, but we are strong, we are resilient, and as a people, as a nation, we are strong, we are resilient, we bounce back. We don't bounce back in our own flesh, we bounce back because the spirit of the Lord God resides within us. We call him Father, we call him creator, we call him restorer, and he is the one that is going to see us through. He's the one that has kept us, is keeping us, and will keep us standing, will cause us to bounce back even in the difficulties. So, what's my word to you today, my friends? Whether you are in Jamaica, whether you're in the other parts of the Caribbean, Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas, the other areas that were affected. Be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord, be strong in the Lord. That's all I can give to you. Be strong in the Lord. That's my encouragement to you. Be strong in the Lord. These are challenging times. These are challenging times. I know all around the world. These are challenging times, and we have to have a secure hope. And that secure hope has got to be in Christ Jesus, the rock on which we stand. Because only in him we may be shaken, but surely not destroyed. Surely not destroyed. So I pray that your hope and your trust and your confidence is in him today. And if you don't know him as Savior, I want to introduce you to him. He is the most high God, he is the sovereign Lord, he's the maker of heaven and the earth. He is the one who came and died so that you and I can have eternal life. He's the one in whom you can put your faith and your trust and your confidence in. Because can I tell you, earthly trust in man will fail. That's what the scripture tells us. The arm of flesh will surely fail us. We dare not trust our own, but we can trust Almighty God. And so, though the storm clouds roll, so though the storms may roar around us, though the wind may be howling around us, we put our faith, our trust, and our confidence in God because we know He'll never fail us, He'll never let us down, He'll never let us down. We trust you, Almighty God, and so I lift up my friends, Lord, in the name of Jesus, my sisters, Almighty God. You know the storm that they're facing right now, Lord God. But I also know who controls the wind and the rain, and you can say, peace be still, Lord God. You can tell it to go thus far and no further, because you are God. I pray that you'll strengthen them even now in their inner man. Lord God, that your grace, your peace, your presence will envelop them, Father, in the name of Jesus. They may feel like they're going under, but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I call them back up, God, in the name of Jesus. Lord, for though the storm clouds almighty God are gathered around them. Lord Jesus, they, Lord Jesus, they will rest in your unchanging hands. They'll rest in your unchanging hands. Lord, I speak peace to them even now. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I speak peace to them even now. I pray for the provisions that they need, the open doors that they need, the grace they need, the favor they need. Almighty God. And I pray even now that your presence will be around them, will surround them wherever they go. Almighty God, we thank you that you love us with an everlasting love. We thank you that you are there with us, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And so, Almighty God, continue to do for us what no one else can do. Cover us under your wings and hide us under your pavilion. In your name I pray with thanksgiving, amen and amen. I just wanted to extend just a reminder to you that God is. If this episode has been a blessing to you, I pray that you'll share this with someone else who it will be a blessing for. A blessing to. See you next time on Position for Purpose Conversations with Khalid Marie.