Storms 2

One of my favorite preachers often said you’re either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or going into one. I’ve found this to be so true in my own life.

The truth is, none of us wants to go through a storm. If only all the days could be sunshine and blue skies. Those are the kinds of days we somehow think we’re entitled to. I think we are apt to think peace is when our kids are tucked into bed, the house is clean and quiet, and our favorite tv show is on. But that’s not peace; that’s calm. Peace isn’t the absence of difficulty. It’s the presence of God in the midst of it. I’m thankful for the presence of God that brings peace in the the storm.

Scripture has much to say about storms. Like all hardships in this life, God is sovereign over the storms in our lives. Thankfully, they have a transformative quality to them as God uses our pain to make us more Christ like. The shake ups shift our perspective. They push us to live and love with intentionality. It shouldn’t take a storm, but it somehow always does. God has a way of using our lows to draw us close to him and remind us that we are getting wrapped up in a world of things that are completely temporal.

The storms of life are actually vital for us. While the world screams at us that we need bigger, newer, and more, a storm will quickly reveal what’s genuinely valuable and needful. Trials bring us to the end of ourselves, and it’s there where we can clearly see we are completely dependent on God. We need him for wisdom, strength, and to remind us this world is not our home.

Unfortunately, because of our fickle nature, we often don’t recognize all that our hardship is accomplishing until long after the storm has passed. Often the storm is the way in which God reveals to us how desperately we need his grace and daily presence.

It wasn’t until Peter started to sink that he turned his eyes back to Jesus (Matthew 14: 22-33). When our cares abound, we are reminded of whom we must cast our cares upon. The heavy hand of God in our lives shows his love for us so that we desire to partake in his holiness. They affirm our union with Christ.

Through Paul’s writings we learn not only do we experience God’s comfort in a storm, but we in turn pass on that comfort to others (2 Cor 1: 3-7). Truly, how short-sighted is our vision in the midst of our storm. How precious it should be to us to allow our pain to produce its proper fruit. God can use it in glorious ways both for us, and others.

I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful for the storms (this is my second blog about them after all). Every. Single. Time they hit, I’m drawn back to the foot of the cross and reminded where my hope rests. I can see God’s faithfulness through a clear lens. My faith becomes more deeply personal witnessing God firsthand meeting my needs and so often exceeding what I could have imagined it possible for him to do.

I can see the storms of life truly help us turn our focus from building our own kingdom to building God’s kingdom. For our light afflication, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (2 Cor 4:17)

None of us are immune to storms. While we can’t predict when they will hit, we can be assured that they will. Where is your hope when they do? Jesus can give us the strength to not only stand in the storm, but also to soar. Oddly enough my children’s memory verse for the week sparked me to read up on eagles. Isaiah 40:31 says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary, and they shall walk and not faint.” An eagle loves a storm. He sits there on a ledge, and when he feels that air being heated by the thermal drafts early in the morning, he steps off his perch and lifts those mighty wings of his and begins to soar. The faster the wind blows, the more convection there is in the air and he just rises higher and higher. He soars. This scripture promises us we too can be like an eagle in the storm.

There is a spiritual place of stillness in the center of God’s will that mirrors the physical eye of a storm. From this place and this place alone, a Christian can praise God while encouraging restoration for other storm victims with meekness, humility, and love.