Traveling home in the state of Oregon on a recent Saturday afternoon, my wife and I got word that our neighborhood was being evacuated due to a forest fire in nearby La Pine State Park. Unlike many others who were evacuated, we were not even able to retrieve items from our home because we were out of town when the evacuation order was issued.

As we drove past the turnoff to our home community of La Pine, we were sobered by the sight of a large plume of smoke rising into the air, pushed northeast by gusty southwest winds, heading straight for our property. We were fortunate to spend the night with relatives in nearby Bend, Oregon but it was a long night of waiting and wondering.

Our trauma was short-lived with a happy ending. We were able to return home Sunday night with no damage to our home or surrounding property, thanks to the outstanding work of firefighters and forest service personnel.

Our frightful experience is dwarfed by the suffering resulting from the catastrophic devastation wrought that same weekend by Hurricane Katrina. The TV news is still enumerating the mind-numbing details even as I write. The aftermath of the storm brings additional problems and suffering. Recovery will take years. Some are already describing this as the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

I cannot claim to comprehend the magnitude of this disaster or the suffering of the victims and their loved ones. But our brief and relatively minor brush with danger has left me with a perspective on tragedies that I would like to share.

As we helplessly waited out our evacuation, not knowing the fate of our property and belongings, my wife and I had lots of time to think. As we assessed the situation, our main thought was, come what may, God would see us through. We have what is most important in this life—each other. All the rest is just "things." The few items that we had with us from our weekend trip now seemed like luxuries.

The main lesson I learned is that tragedy forces us to reexamine our priorities in a way that we simply do not do during normal times of comfortable living. What are your priorities? Matthew 6:33 tells us to, "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." God's righteousness is based on love. So love must also be our priority.

Romans 8:31-39 tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Many may ask where is the love of God in such horrific devastation? Part of the answer to that question lies with you and me and other people throughout the nation and around the world whose lives have not been shattered by this tragedy.

Jesus said loving others as ourselves is the second greatest commandment that combines with love of God to form the foundation of the rest of the Bible (Matthew 22:36-40). The parable of the sheep and goats tells us that the determining factor between those invited to "enter into the joy of the Lord" and those "cast into outer darkness" is our response (or lack thereof) to human needs and suffering (Matthew 25:31-46): "I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in; I had no clothing, and you gave it to me."

The magnitude of Katrina is mind-boggling. But Bible prophecies, including Matthew 24:21-22, foretell a time of far greater suffering during "the Great Tribulation (trouble, distress, hard circumstances, suffering). It will strike suddenly as in the time of Noah when, "People didn't realize what was going to happen until the Flood came and swept them all away" (Matthew 24:39). As in our evacuation, many will not have time to go back into the house to retrieve personal items (compare Matthew 24:17-18).

Revelation 3:10 speaks of this unprecedented time of trouble as, "the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth."

So the greatest time of testing lies yet ahead. The world also has many bitter lessons yet to learn.