O courage, my soul and let us carry on, For the night is dark, and I am far from home. Thanks be to God, the morning light appears, And the storm is passing over Hallelujah!
As sung by Detroit Mass Choir
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” Isaiah 43:2.
“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 8:26
James let out a deep sigh. He was really sick and tired of dealing with this. It really messed up his whole world. It just didn’t seem like it would go away. He was big-time stressed, and he just didn’t know what to do anymore.
James remembered back to a time when he was 15 years old, and was at work on his summer job. A co-worker was looking outside and commented about the darkening sky. It wasn’t even noon yet, but dark clouds loomed above. I mean, it was getting really dark. Then the winds started picking up, and the rain started pouring down. With the blowing wind, and the rain pouring down, next came the Civil Defense sirens. He just knew he was going to see a tornado, or at least a funnel cloud. After about 45 minutes though, the winds died down, and the rain stopped. The sky now had a surreal greenish tint. James and his co-workers had all stood there in amazement at how peaceful the skies looked after such a strong storm.
Thinking back on this, he was reminded of the times when he had faced storms in his life. When so many times, things were going along well, and then suddenly a storm arrives, creating a lot of chaos, and seeming like it would ever leave. Finally though, it would, leaving peaceful skies in the wake.
In Isaiah 43:2, the message is that God will be with us through the trials and tribulations, or the storms of our life. There are also times, though, when like in Matthew 8:26, God may even remove the storm entirely.
Why does God allow us to go through storms? Wouldn’t life be so much simpler without them? Well storms can actually draw us closer to God. How? You may ask. Well:
*Storms can force us to rely on God and his strength instead of our own strengths and abilities.
*Storms can show us that God is greater than any situation, and that his love for us will never fail.
*Storms can help to increase our faith and our trust in God. As we see how God moves in our lives, as he bring us through our storms. We learn to trust him, and learn to submit more areas of our lives to his will.
One thing to remember is that God knows about whatever storms we are going through. If God is allowing us to go through the storm, there is a reason, and the reason is to draw you closer to him. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
As James thought on these things, even through the storm he was facing, he had the peace in knowing that God would bring him through it.
Prayer: Heavenly Father. Please help us as we navigate through the storms in our lives. Give us the peace, that can only come from you, as we go through. We also pray that through all of this, that your will be done, and your name glorified. Amen.