Storms!

Where is your faith? he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked each other, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Luke 8:25

The storms last week reminded me of those which came through our small town during my growing up years. My Mama had a healthy respect for storms, and when we were growing up, there were many occasions to go through them with her in charge of our safety measures. Remember, this was during the 50’s and 60’s where technology updates on storms were rare, but Mama seemed to have a second sense about them. She could walk outside, gauge the wind, the sky, and the atmosphere and somehow know we were in for a bad storm.

We lived in South Georgia, and we had no basement or other shelter for protection against tornadoes or hurricanes, so Mama insisted that we girls get under our beds as protection during the height of a storm. The three of us spent many hours underneath our respective beds singing songs or just talking. I’m a little claustrophobic, so if I’d had my choice, I’d have rather taken my chances on the bed rather than under it!

Storms are a given in life, and we all face them at one time or another. They often appear when we least expect them, and they can leave us confused, broken, and even desperate. We can hide under the bed, deny their existence, or we can face them and trust God to bring us through.

What do we know about the storms in life? We know for absolute certain that in this life we can expect trouble, sadness, disappointment, failure, betrayal, and the list goes on. This is a given.

When storms come our way, as they surely will, it would help if we remember a few things about them. First, storms can come out of nowhere, so it helps to be prepared. Around our house, if we experience a long stretch of calm, we start getting ready because we know a storm of some sort is brewing. We try to stay prepared by practicing a consistent prayer life and thankful attitude for each calm day. Even though a new storm can be devastating, we try to lean on God and all the blessings we enjoy.

Storms also provide the opportunity to practice our faith as we strive for trust in God over understanding. It is during the storms of life that God can move closer to us and us to Him.

We should all try to remember the words of Elle Sommer, “Where you are now won’t last forever. Big challenges usually bring big victories.”

The third thing about storms is that they usually move quickly through and the sun comes out. We look back on them and marvel at the freshness and new perspective we find after the storm. They have a way of humbling us while bringing us closer together.

Lastly, I think storms, no matter what kind, have a way of showing us the silver lining in this life. Storms give color to the normalcy of daily living and remind us that God’s plan is bigger than any storm. His covenant with us lets us know that there are miracles brewing in the midst of any storm.

The hymn How Great Thou Art was written during a storm. The story is told that Mr. Carl Gustaf Boberg, a Swedish pastor, editor and member of the Swedish parliament was on his way home from church when a strong storm began to form out of nowhere. The winds were howling, and it appeared it would form into quite a devastating storm. Suddenly, as he watched, the storm disappeared as mysteriously as it had begun.

As the church bells rang and he looked out over the calm Monsteras Bay, these words began to form in his heart, O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder; consider all the worlds they hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder; Thy power throughout the universe displayed.” There was such calmness after the storm that he returned home to write the rest of the great hymn. It has been translated several times and finally in 1949 was published with all the verses we know today.

There is for me a certain awe that appears after a storm which makes me realize how protected we are by God’s hand during these times. We will all get through the storms in our lives and marvel at how trivial they seem now as we look at them through God’s perspective! Oh God, How Great Thou Art!

If you are ever to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, (Eph.6:10) your strength will be born during a storm. copied