DEALING WITH THE STORMS OF LIFE

DEALING
WITH THE STORMS OF LIFE 
"Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." James 1:6

Storms seem to be such a big part of our lives anymore. If we’re not in the midst of one, it seems like one of our close friends or a family member is. How can you stay isolated and uninvolved when that happens? You can’t. So pretty much everyday finds us confronted by some kind of "stormy" situation or another. And confronted by the tug-of-war between worry and faith that always comes to believers in the midst of those troubling situations.

Worry finds it’s root in fear, which is the opposite of faith. If not controlled, worry creates doubt and doubt leads to an inability to receive from God. All available evidence, in scripture and in worldly data, shows worry to be both ineffective and destructive.

Faith, on the other hand, is the foundation that God has provided for us. It is a source of stability and strength to overcome our troubles. It brings comfort in the midst of turmoil - a peace that goes beyond our understanding. How very simple the choice seems when presented in those terms. But life has a way of making the simplest of choices not seem so simple after all.

Major life changing events often seem insurmountable and it’s a natural reaction for us to feel some panic. In some ways it reminds me of being on a ship in a hurricane. As you can tell from the scripture reference above, James spent some time at sea and shares my view. Anyone who saw the George Clooney movie about the perfect storm has some sense of what that can be like. In our mind’s eye, dark clouds gather to block the sun, the wind howls so loud we can’t think.


The waves of doubt and fear lift skyward and come crashing down on us with thunderous blows. Again and again and again. It feels like an endless march of forces seemingly bent on destroying our hope and our faith. All is darkness and confusion around us. Our senses reel from the impact. There seems no direction we can chose to escape, no refuge in which to seek comfort and rest. But in the midst of this assault, we need to force ourselves to ask these critical questions:

Are God’s promises any less valid today than they were yesterday?

Does He love us any less?

Are we any less valuable to Him?

Has the price He paid for our salvation, for our adoption into His family as His sons and daughters, become less precious to Him today than it was when Jesus hung on the cross at Calvary and He had to turn His eyes away because it hurt so badly to see His Son’s suffering?

The Bible clearly gives us God’s answers. They are "No. No. No. And NO!!!"

Do I understand everything that is going on in our lives or the lives of so many we care about right now? No I do not. I freely admit it. But if I trust the Father, our heavenly Father, I don’t need to understand. I only need to place my hand in His and hold on with all the strength I have. He will take care of the rest.

By way of illustration, there is an incident in the Bible I’d like to share with you. I pray it encourages you as much as it did this old sailor in trying to deal with the current "storm" of troubles.

"Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!" He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm." Matthew 8:24-26 (emphasis added)

As joint heirs with Jesus, we have the same measure of faith as the one who slept peacefully during the storm and the same measure of authority as the one who rebuked it and brought the calm. Instead of bowing to the storm (worry and fear) we can take authority over it - like Jesus. We may not have all the answers, but we have the one we need. The Father will care for us and bring us safely home.

I remain as always sheltered under His wings and overwhelmed by His love,

Steve sossteve2010@yahoo.com