Weathering the Storm

Have you ever been caught in a storm?  I remember being on the lake once when a storm came.  The waves became huge, and the rain hurt as it pounded my skin.  It was uncomfortable.  I just wanted to be back on land, in the comfort and safety of my home.  Simply put, I wanted the storm to be over.  Sounds a lot like the storms we face in life, huh?

Recently I’ve seen a picture floating around on facebook that says, “sometimes you just have to bow your head, say a prayer, and weather the storm.”  Those are words that are easily said (or written), but in actuality, those are things that are very difficult to do.  In the midst of a terrible storm, it is sometimes even impossible to pray.  We don’t have the words because the pain is too deep.  Have you been there?  I have.  We try to pray, but as hard as we try, the words won’t come.  In those times, I believe that God knows our heart well enough to know that the hurt has impeded us from crying out to him.  The storm has tossed us to and fro, and we are just barely hanging on for dear life. 

This morning we sang Matt Redman’s song Never Let Go (in Spanish, of course) at church.  As the title implies, God never lets go of us, NEVER!  In the midst of the storm when you feel like you are drowning and your grip is slipping, remember that God will never let us go.  He is a shelter in the storm (Isaiah 25:4), and He makes the storm be still and hushes the waves of the sea (Psalm 107:29).  When the storm is raging and you just want it to be over, remember that He is holding onto you!

Something else that struck me from that little saying was ‘bow your head.’  Now I know that it was in reference to bowing one’s head to pray, but I can’t let go of the fact that when our head is bowed, we are not looking up to Jesus.  I know we bow our heads in prayer out of reverence, but in the midst of the storm, our focus needs to be up.  Sometimes the only thing we can do is look to the heavens.  Sometimes simply looking up takes all the strength we have.  When we are weathering the storm, it seems that bowing our head shows defeat.  And when we are in Christ, we are not defeated.  Trust me when I say that I know the feeling of defeat during the midst of the storm.    But Romans 8:37 tells us “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”  We can get through the storm, but only by the power of Christ living in us.

When I was in the midst of the worst storm of my life, people would say, “God will not give you more than you can handle.”  Really?  REALLY??!!??  Come on, people, that is absolutely the worst thing you can say to someone.  I know you meant well.  But, seriously, when in the midst of something that is so unbearable, you tell someone that God knows you can handle what you are going through?  God certainly knows us and what we are capable of.  He knows how many hairs we have on our heads (Luke 12:7).  I believe that God allows things that will draw us closer to him.  I could not handle what I was going through, but praise God that He could!  It’s only through and by His grace that I was able to see that storm through.  It hurt.  It was awful.  I would never wish it on anyone, and I wanted it to be over.  But God had a bigger and better plan for me, and experiencing that storm was part of his plan.  He has shown me through that storm that he indeed doesn’t ever, ever let go, even when we try to let go of him.

So, weather that storm that you are facing.  Look to God, cry out to him, or just be silent in your pain.  He knows.  AND HE NEVER LETS GO!