He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the seas, “Peace, Be Still”. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39
I watched Hurricane Michael with many emotions last week. Our relatives and friends were in its path in Madison, Tallahassee, Donalsonville, Thomasville, and Dothan, and our Mama’s condo that has been in our family since 1975 was near the eye of the storm. There’s nothing one can do other than watch, wait, and pray.
I had heard that in the eye of the storm there is a calm and a strange peace. I found that the eye is calm because the strong surface winds that converge never make it there. The force all around the eye deflects the wind from the center causing the wind to rotate around the eye leaving the center very calm. The irony is that even though its calm and peaceful in the eye, all around it are the most dangerous winds of the storm. Thus, the proverbial calm before the storm.
Life and the eye of the storm have so many similarities. Most of the time we can feel like we are either in the middle of a storm, just through a storm, or preparing for the next storm on the horizon. God grants us the eye of the storm to renew our strength, reaffirm our faith, and rest in the power of His love and care. We feel His peace while the winds of the storm are all around us.
No one is exempt from storms in our life, and we can’t stay in the eye forever. We may not understand why storms come, but we can use these times to draw closer to God and thank him for the ways these storms bless us! Storms come and go, but the love of God is constant.
Thankfully, all our family and friends are safe. Our hometown is being referred to as “ground zero” of Georgia. The physical damage is massive, but God has brought us through and He will be with us to sustain us. Our prayer is for the folks in Donalsonville and surrounding areas, many farmers who have lost their crops, businesses, churches, and families as they pick up their lives using God as their eye.
When the storms of life are raging, stand by me; when the storms of life are raging, stand by me. When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea; thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me. Charles Albert Tinley