We’ve all been caught in the storm watching flood waters rise, and wondering how we got there. Thinking where is God in our storm when our arms are weary, our souls are battered, and life has left us breathless.
It is here, in the midst of the storm, that we have two choices. Am I going to allow God to use this storm, or allow the storm to shatter us, and push us away from God? In the midst of stress, pain or heartache, it can be so easy to allow the storm to make us bitter, to let it drive us away from everything God has planned for us.
When it comes down to it, this is a choice only we can make. We can let God refine, shape, and define us through this broken place, or it can sweep in like a tornado and destroy everything in its path. We can hunker down in our pain or depression or loneliness, or we can lean into God, and allow Him to lead our steps and fill our souls.
It’s times like this, as we sit in the storm, it’s easy to feel alone, like no one sees and no one cares. But even in the storm, at the darkest moments of your life, He is there. And because He is God even in the storm, you cannot be list to Him, even in the storm you are still His child. He saw this storm before it even reached you, and had already worked out what you need to go through it. He will see you through the storm. But trusting God is the key.
At times it can feel impossible to trust God when we are struggling in the storm He knew was coming but did not save us from and from our perspective to see why we had to endure the storm. The answer is, because we live in a fallen world, or God had a plan through it all, or because we made poor choices.
Regardless of the reason why, God can show up “big” and pour His grace, mercy, and love into our lives in our storm-battered souls. Sometimes we have to go through a storm so that it can strip away everything false that we rely on so we are forced to rely on God.
Our storms are the thing He uses to reveal His goodness and love. Through it, we often see His power in great ways.
I think a great example of this is when the disciples Jesus performed the miracles of feeding the 5000 in Matthew 14. He immediately told them to get into the boat and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, while He dismissed the crowds. He sent them, and they obeyed.
Then while Jesus was alone praying, the wind started howling and their boat started rocking. They were afraid they cried out, after they had struggled for a long time, battered by the wind and waves before Jesus showed up to rescue them, the winds ceased. (Matthew 14:32). Then the disciples cried out, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Between the time Jesus sent them across the Sea of Galilee, and the time He arrived to save them, did they wonder if He had forgotten them? Were they angry that He had sent them? Did they doubt His faithfulness?
Even knowing He is God in the storm isn’t always enough in the face of the storm, it’s still easy to find doubt creep in.
God told us in Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames we not set you ablaze.”
I think it’s important that when we are going through the storm, we need to cling to all the past storms God has been with us through. The storms of life are used to build on what we learned when everything was going right. As uncomfortable as the painful seasons are in our lives we need them to grow and stretch us.
The storms may not be sent by God, but He can still use them. They teach us to lean into prayer and lean into the Bible.
They reaffirm what we know in our hearts, for the next time we go through a storm. And give us a solid foundation to stand with confidence that He is God in the storm, and He will never abandon us.
“So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” -Isaiah 41:10
From Pity to Praise 