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God is in the Storm

Sharon recently discovered that her marriage wasn’t what she had thought. For years she believed the words of her loving husband when he would say he loved and adored her. Around the third year of marriage, she felt uncomfortable, a sense of invasion, and eventually, she became empty.

The covenant was invaded and her spirit felt that something left. Sadly, Sharon would experience those same invading feelings thru the years. They would come and go and each time they were present, her spirit knew there was another among their union.

Recently, Sharon became aware that all those feelings and suspicions were in fact true and the storm came crashing in. The reality of what she suspected came true, it was no longer an illusion. How sad is it for someone’s life to come crashing down and find themselves standing alone wondering how did they get there? A person may ask why or how could this have happened?

The Storms of life are just that way; all seems to be smooth sailing and all of a sudden (so we think), this big wave comes into a person’s life and just consumes their world. They can’t help but focus on the storm.  They sometimes spend countless hours, days, weeks, and even years trying to understand what has happened. They feel like there is no relief in sight.  It sometimes feels that the wave is so big that it has wiped them out.

That wave is called your circumstance, your pain, your disbelief, your discovery, etc. The circumstances that come at you so fast that you just can’t think. Everywhere you turn, it crashing into your soul and you feel consumed with emotions. A person can get lost when they keep playing what has happened over and over in their mind.  Sometimes it feels like the waves multiply so rapidly that it magnifies the pain.

We find ourselves looking up and ask… Where is GOD! Why didn’t He stop this from happening! Why did God do this to me! We may blame God for our tragedies instead of those who caused the tragedies. Sometimes a wave is part of God’s plan to wake up his children. But rest assured God has been in the Storm all along. In fact, He knew we would experience these tragedies before we were even born.

So how do we handle such tragedies emotionally and spiritually? Especially when you have tried so hard to ensure you stayed on course to do what God’s word says. The truth is, we can be in the will of God and still go thru a storm. As I once heard a pastor say “A storm is always designed to increase your faith to give you a deeper experience with your Heavenly Father”.

Scripture tells us that Jesus himself said we would go thru trials and tribulations … John 16:33 says “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” You see, storms may not be pleasant, but they do come with a purpose.

This well-known pastor once broke down the three folds of a Storm.

Circumstantial Storm: This is when it’s out of your control. During this phase, a person feels helpless and sometimes hopeless. They can’t do one thing to change what has transpired. They have to accept what has happened and their starting point is post-tragedy. This is especially hard for those born to be natural leaders.  

These leaders are the ones that people rely on when they are going thru life’s difficulties.  They are the ones that people look at and admire for having it together.  Therefore, when they experience this out-of-control emotion, they find themself standing alone in shock at what has transpired.

Terrified of the Storm – It’s a storm of emotions. Your worse fear has become a reality and you have to face it. You may have played it in your mind thru the years on how you would handle the situation if you ever faced it. Then that day arrives and you find yourself in disbelief, and maybe even frozen in emotion.

Storms come in all shapes and sizes such as what Sharon had to face. Others are facing financial decisions such as should they stay in a company because of a recent job requirement (financial stress can be terrifying). No matter what your storm is, you may find yourself fearing the unknown which can be overwhelming.

Theological Storm – The spiritual storm.  When the circumstances are out of control and the emotions are going crazy, then they start to question where is God.   You start to ask.. where were you God? Why did you let this happen? I have been praying to protect me from this and now I am smack in the middle of the very thing I have always prayed wouldn’t happen. Why God Why?

Here’s the truth. For those of you that have read the story where Jesus and his disciples got in a boat, Mark 4:35. Scripture says, “As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, Let’s cross to the other side of the lake. v36So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). v37But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.”

The disciples panicked as outlined in v38The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Now think about it, the SAVIOR was sleeping, these disciples have seen Jesus do all kinds of miracles and yet in the midst of the storm, they doubted. Jesus was asleep on purpose.

Look at v35 again; He said “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake”. But what happened to these men of God? THEY kept their eyes on the storm. THEY focused on the circumstance at hand over His Promise, which was they were going to the other side.

We either believe His promises or we don’t.  He already said let’s cross to the other side. His disciples took their eyes off on what He said and focused on the storm. Jesus wasn’t sweating the storm, but they woke Him up to tell him to look at the storm and Jesus wasn’t having it. He knew his purpose was not done. Just like your purpose is not done, even if you are facing a storm.

So what does Jesus do? Verse 39 tells us “Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!”  Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. v40Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They had the answer in their boat and He demonstrated that even in the Storm. We need to be still and know He is God and He will guide us. His plan will come to fruition if we continue to trust Him.  

Search His Word regarding your storm, meditate on His promises so that you can remind yourself that He is in control.  His promise doesn’t change because of the Storm. We have the answer, we just have to choose to believe His Word, which will build our faith in Him. 

As for Sharon, her storm is big, the waves are still splashing and sometimes overwhelming but she knows without a doubt that the promise given to her in Psalms 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds“. She knows that Jesus is in the boat and she knows HE will take her to the other side and He will do that for you too!  Selah.

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Christianity DOESN’T guarantee a life without challenges

It’s incredibly interesting how christians have been viewed through the years as people that shouldn’t struggle. If they do face challenges, then whispers of gossip begin and blame the christian. I’ve heard many people say things like…

“If they are christian, why are they going through that?”

“I thought christians believed in a God that wouldn’t let them get sick.”

“God must be punishing them for that tragedy to happen to them.”

“Just look at who they are talking to; I thought they were a christian?”

The judgements goes on and on. It’s as though christians are to be immune from life challenges. Therefore, if a horrible sickness falls upon a christian then it’s the christians fault for not having enough faith. The truth of the matter is; Jesus who is the Son of God himself said…. we will face challenges.

John 16:33 (NIV)

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Throughout scripture, there are countless challenges a believer in God had to endure and still do to this day. Just because he or she chose to say yes to God doesn’t mean they get a get out of jail free card on tribulations. Take Noah for example; God chose Him to basically help Him end the world because it was so full of evil (Gen 7).

The first challenge I see was that Noah was over 500 years old! He had to build an arc by hand to house every living creature. He had to secure food for each animal and his family members not knowing how long he would be in the arc. He had to search for specific materials in order to build it exactly the way God intended the arc to be. Can you imagine the ridicule he endured from everyone around him?

By the time the floods came, Noah was a ripe old age of 600 years. It rained continuously for 40 days and nights. Scripture says that the water was on the earth for one hundred and fifty days (Gen 7:24). Imagine building an arc and having faith in following Gods specific instruction so this big boat wouldn’t sink with everything and everyone in it. Talk about faith!

Then you have another guy by the name Joseph. Scripture tells us that his father Isreal favored Joseph over his other sons because he was born to him at an old age (Gen 27:3). Unfortunately, Joseph’s brothers took notice of their fathers love and favor and they became jealous. They also didn’t like the dreams Joseph was sharing which basically told them he would rule over them some day.

So what did they do? They decided to sell their brother and he was eventually taken to Egypt. The brothers turned around and lied to their father and told him he was killed. Talk about having a bad day when your own family sells you off out of jelously and claims you’re dead!

Then there’s Moses; a guy who didn’t want a platform of speaking publicly let alone challenge a Pharaoh. However, he like Noah chose to obey God and did things the way God wanted him to in order to accomplish His plan. He did it afraid and knew how powerful his God was and still is.

We can’t forget about King David. The guy sneaked his way on stealing someone else’s wife and made sure her husband was put away. He was king, he could have had anyone but he chose this route and tried to cover it up. To this day, scripture identifies him a man after Gods heart. He obviously had some challenging lust issues he had to get passed.

Others such as Daniel, who was placed in a lions den to be a hot lunch. Then you have Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were placed in a human furnace just for not bowing down to an arrogant king. All these men mentioned were God followers. Those that chose to worship the creator of the universe and yet they faced some serious challenges.

There are many others throughout scripture that faced their fair share of messes. Therefore, It makes no sense to me when people make silly comments about christian as though we are supposed to be exempt from tribulations. In fact, having faith in a God you don’t see can be challenging at times. Humans in nature want something tangible. They want to control and see the answer coming at them.

However, true christians have to chose to refuse their fleshly desires and ask God for help. They choose to believe that no matter what the circumstances are, God is in control. Even though they may see everything spiraling in the natural, they know God is still in control. They choose to place their burdens and fears in God and believe what His words says about the situation.

We also have to make a choice on giving up those so called pleasures of life that are not lined up with His word. Making a daily decision to turn away from habits that we viewed as fun knowing we shouldn’t be doing. We sometimes have to cut off people that contribute to our lives a negative way, which can be particularly challenging.

Yes, being a christians is not a walk in the park. We do get sick; we do have financial problems; we have debt; we sometimes experience failure. We have many challenges in this life with one major difference; we serve a God that has given us unlimited wisdom. All we have to do is apply His wisdom to our lives consistently so that we know we are headed in the right direction.

We must choose His direction .. DAILY. I have experience many times throughout my life that the world can be falling apart and walked in peace knowing that God is in control. He is our protector; our guidance, and our Savior. He gave us his Holy Spirit to speak to us in His still small voice. His scripture reminds us not to be anxious for anything but in everything we should pray and when we do, He gives the greatest gift of all… PEACE (Phil 4).

There is nothing like having sound guidance in your life that can prevent you from having to go around that same mountain of mistakes year after year. Think about that… people that keep dating the wrong person over and over and keep ending up with the same heart aches. People that keep hiking up credit card debt just to be a slave every month. People that want to keep up with the Jones when they don’t have the means too. Get away from that mountain and follow Gods word!

Jesus made that path for us to be able to talk to the Father and we have His word that give guidance for EVERY SINGLE challenge we can encounter. Therefore, we already know we will have trials and tribulations in this life, why try to figure it out ourselves if we already have the answer in His word?

I would rather face challenges in this life and not rely on myself and know that my success rate will increase in all areas of my life. Keep looking up and know God does have all the answers!