When Storms Come

As you can tell from my last several blog posts, it has been a season of trials and tribulations for my family. From scares, injuries, accidents, and anxiety, we have been walking through a season where we are 100% confident the Lord is trying to teach us something. We are now walking through another situation with my husband’s job. We really aren’t sure where he is going to end up and he could be jobless for weeks or several months. It is frightening and even terrifying at times as we consider the unknown.

My emotions are ever changing — I feel content and fine with the situation and then I will break out in tears fearful of the unknown. I am learning time and time again that I cannot trust my feelings and I am learning the importance of staying in the Word and knowing God’s truths.

Luke 8:22-25 says:

One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

I had saved one of Laurie’s eMoments from a while back where she focused in on this Scripture. After sharing this passage she asked the readers, “Where do we place our faith? Do we believe in what we see or do we believe in His Word? Do we rely on what we see or on what we know to be true?” These are the exact same questions the Lord has been asking me as I walk through this season. Laurie went on to say in that particular eMoment, “He is Lord even in a storm. He is Lord even in your failure. HE is Lord even in your weakness.”

This season is still hard. I struggle to trust the Lord in between moments of faith and surrender. I can’t help but remain grateful for the Lord’s patience with me but also for the community He has surrounded us with. Our brothers and sisters in Christ who have encouraged us, prayed over us, and circled around us during our difficulty are Christ’s hands and feet to us right now. A friend was just encouraging me the other day on the phone and said that it’s crazy because this is so tough now but in a few years we will look back at the situation now and laugh because it will be such a small trial compared to how faithful the Lord will be.

I’ve heard this quote before, although I do not know who originally said it. Nevertheless, it keeps returning to mind: “The Lord is a light unto our path not a spotlight into our future.” He provides grace for one day at a time.

He already has the ending of the story written. Sometimes I wish I could flip to the last page and see the ending, but that isn’t how God works, is it? One day at a time — and boy does my sweet, precious, faithful, loving, gracious Father provide grace for each day.

Laurie ended her eMoment with a prayer and it is a prayer I have been praying a lot over the last several weeks. It goes like this: “I confess my temptation to listen to lies, to doubt, to be tossed by the waves, and to be frightened by things I don’t understand. Lord, help me believe what is true. Your love is perfect. Your ways are perfect. Your glory is forever.”

Friends, I feel the Lord leading me to share all of this with you because life on this side of eternity is not easy, and the Lord doesn’t promise life without trials and pain. BUT it is during those times that we need to circle around our Christian brothers and sisters and remind them of the truth. We can be tossed side to side by waves and wind, but God created the ocean and He can calm the storm in half a second. It is how we respond that proves where our hope is found. I am praying during my storm that I can overcome my feelings, ignore the enemy, and believe God’s perfect truth. I am so grateful for my Abba Father and His love that endures forever.

Standing on the Word