According to Wikipedia, “Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof.
Along the beach in the Yucatan state of Mexico, we see many of these roofs. Some are on houses and others on palapas, which are open sided shelters used on the beach.
To build a thatched roof, dried palm leaves are placed in an overlapping sequence over beams supported by upright posts. It’s the combination of many intertwined leaves that makes the structure stronger.
To protect the roof from the battering winds coming over the sea, many along the beach have a net secured over the finished roof.
After a day and night of punishing winds, I noticed that several thatched roofs had been damaged. On one, I could see the netting had been torn loose and was hanging off one side. Some large holes now appeared in the roof.
This spoke to me of my life. I am stronger when I join forces with others. Each of us has unique strengths which combine to make us stronger.
Even so, we are only human. Forces will work to separate us and create holes in our structure. Jesus is the covering protection we need to remain intact. When outside influences try to rip this protection from me I need to hold on even tighter to Jesus. He is the one who can hold us together so we don’t come undone.
In their distress they cried out to the Lord. He rescued them from their troubles. (Psalm 107:6 GWT)