Storms

I've been spending some time thinking about the emotional storms I’ve weathered in life. Thinking about how it felt in the midst of them. How it felt when the winds of life were howling, the noise was deafening and the waves were crashing.

As I think through these different situations in my life I wonder, would I have ever agreed to travel through them had I known the details ahead of time? Most likely not.

As I look back, most of the storms of life seemed to come at some pretty inopportune and unwelcome times. If I knew I had to go through some of those things, I would have chosen a different week to encounter them, a different month, a different time in life, or even requested to opt out of that particular one. And yet, that was not for me to decide.

Yet, I realize, that out of each and every one of those storms, I learned something new about God. Something about His character, His promises, His faithfulness, His peace, His steadfastness… None of those situations came into my life without letting me see at least one new thing about Him when I started looking for it.

If it had not been for those storms, would I have learned the many promises we find in the Bible? Promise and truth that He is my rock, my shelter, my refuge, my peace, my shepherd, my deliverer, my support, my provider, my protector, my strength, my ever present help in time of need….

How would I ever have learned what I know of God and who He is if I had never “encountered” Him face to face? If life had been perfect, all of these truths would be words on a page, stories in a book, someone to hear about, but I wouldn’t KNOW them intimately like I do. I wouldn’t know HIM as intimately as I do.

Thinking through all of this makes me almost thankful for those storms. Thankful that in the end, there was a blessing in it. Not that the outcome was always the easiest, was what I had imagined or dreamed or desired. Not that things were “pretty” and always ended “happily ever after”.

And yet, maybe they did. For the things I have learned in the storm, the truths about God and His very self… will go with me into eternity. I will not face Him oblivious to who He is.

Does this mean that I have nothing else to learn? Oh, far from it. In fact, I should probably be re-enforcing my ship because I’m convinced there will be more storms ahead.

Does it mean I’m thankful and rejoicing in the storms I find myself immersed in right now? I’ll be perfectly honest, no, not really. I’m struggling with a few of “my storms”. I feel I’m gasping for air attempting to keep my head above water.

However, I am convinced there is someone standing in the boat, hand outstretched, ready to pull me in. He will not let me drown. He will not let me take in too much water. He is watching ever so closely and knows when I have learned what I need to learn.

I am convinced now that there is a reason for my storms. It is not one of destruction, but of building my character. Perhaps even one of preparing me to be more ready for my eternity with my God.

Maybe my “once upon a time” storms really do end up in a “happily ever after” ending because they are “achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

II Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV) "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

II Corinthians 4:16-18 (MSG) "So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever."