Can You Weather the Storm?

Sounds like an ill advised title, right?  Along about now we would not like to see any storms ever again.   For most of life, however, we can anticipate a lot of storms in the environment in our own lives.  As we eagerly, and rightly, rush to the help and pray for those impacted by the storms, we cannot but help to find questions and fears in the back of our heads.  How could I survive?  Would I be strong? What would I do?

The types I am thinking of are the storms that threaten our health, livelihood, families, and wellbeing. These are the so called “tough times” that come to us all.   We have all faced them and more often than not, we have pulled through one way or another.  But, is there something we can draw from to make that journey easier?  I believe so.

Christ’s teaching to the disciples in the Gospels clearly informs us that God both knows what we need in life before we can even form the words of a request, and is so willing to respond to our daily needs that we do not have to stress and obsess over answers and solutions.   

This sounds very idealistic - simplistic even - to our way of thinking, but it is a lifestyle that generations in the past found profitable.  Our fore bearers in faith called it “providence”.  It was the calm assurance that God was walking just a step ahead preparing the way so as to allow us to relax in the midst of the storm. 

 Think about it. How much of your stress in tough moments of the past really helped the situation?  Is it not true that the proper answers and solutions presented themselves (so to speak) as you moved along?  Could it be that whether you were aware at the moment or not, you were experiencing God’s providential care?

You may face tough moments today. If you do, consider pausing for a moment and asking, “God, are you there?  What are you about to do?” Then, whatever your response to the storm may be, try to relax, for God cares about you. The storms may come but we have a Companion before, during, and after the turmoil.