My God is faithful. I am not always faithful to Him.
I allow the world, fear, and worry to be my partners. I spend time with what ifs, whys, and not fairs more than I spend time with my God.
In a storm, I trust more in the tornado swirling around me than in the hand that is trying to reach me through the winds. I do this so often and consistently it makes me wonder why God does not give up on me.
The Winds will Come
My family recently walked through a storm; the type that elevated my understanding of why Jesus’ followers questioned how He could sleep through such chaos. The winds, waves, and rain were not in their imagination after all, and neither were they in mine.
As the stinging cold and flying rocks leave a mark, and the trembling ground topples things from above and splits the ground below, why does Jesus sleep?
And then the calm happens. The aftermath is scattered everywhere, and you assess the damage. That is when you realize the impossible happened. You are standing where you should have fallen. You are still breathing when rib crushing pain should have collapsed your lungs. And your heart is beating when you knew it would fail at any moment.
Eyes Wide Open
Jesus was not sleeping. He was wrapping His arms around you and taking the brunt of the storm on Himself. He felt those whirling rocks, stinging waves, and shaking ground every bit as you did. He covered you, held you, and loved you through what seemed like forever. He kept you standing.
After our storm waters receded, the winds finally lost their breath, and I could look down to see where I was standing, I saw Jesus’ footprints and mine. Our toes were touching. In my fear, I may not have reached out to Him like I should have, but He held me throughout it all. This storm saved our family and so much more. I now see the purpose of His plan, and our eyes are wide open.
Our God does not use our storms to hurt or destroy us. He uses them to show we can trust Him, we can rebuild with Him, and we should raise our eyes from the here and now to the everlasting love of our Father. The storms will not last forever, but our life with Him will.
Thank you for the Storms
It turns out in our situation we needed this storm. We could not have a future without it. It lifted off every roof, exposed every beam, and allowed light to shine where no light has entered for decades. The ground that shifted settled exactly where our feet needed to stand. There was no other way for this to occur. We are now in complete trust and dependence on Him to move forward and heal.
Jesus was not sleeping, we were. I look back and no longer see the chaos. I see God moving mountains to protect us and wake us up from our slumber. I look back and see love. His love.
Thank you, Jesus, for never leaving us where we are even if it means a storm must come, for loving us not the way we want but the way we need, and thank you for loving us so much you won’t let us to stand where we shouldn’t but will move the earth to get us moving towards your solid ground.
Jesus, thank you for your arms that never let go no matter how hard the winds will blow.
