Embracing The Storm

Lately, I've been fascinated by storms- they seem to match the way I'm feeling... Thunder rumbles through our little valley quivering the windows, loud and powerful. Dark clouds press in heavy and burdened with rain. With a roar, they give up their load delivering the rain to already drenched soil in massive drops like so many tears. The wind dances through the trees before leaving them swaying in its wake as it seeks a better partner- never quite satisfied it retraces its steps over and over, always seeking but never finding never satisfied.

This is where I find myself- in the midst of my own personal storm. Twisting with the wind and lost amongst the raindrops. To say this year went to plan is a massive understatement, there were joys I couldn't imagine, moments that left us breathless with excitement and nights we lay our heads on our pillows with a sense that we had done well. But there were bad days too. Moments where we failed, where I failed. Moments I wanted to give up. Moments I let the devil steal my victory, and I believed the lies he whispered in my ears. Mistakes were made, and choices. For better and for worse.

I find myself sitting here wondering how 10 months could pass so quickly... It seems as if I blinked and the year slipped away with goals and best intentions. Funny - from day to day it all seems the same a blur of normal sprinkled with abnormal. But when you step back you find everything has changed. Even you.

No, this year didn't go to plan, I didn't make a lot of goals. I failed a lot. I got tired, I got broken, I made mistakes- they changed me. Just as they do all of us. Storms always come, that's part of life. There is a purpose- a lesson in them if we will only look. We can let them break us down, or we can let them stretch us. It's all in our response.

We can crumble. Fold up, pack up, and back down as soon as the wind blows against us- or we can stand firm in the knowledge that He's in that boat with us. Secure in the knowledge that He has placed us here like Ester for such a time as this.

We tend to think, that when we are where He wants us it will all go our way. But perhaps the very reason we were put in this place, was to weather this very storm- so others may see His goodness and faithfulness.

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He's promised to see us through, so we can't be lost beneath the waves. Perhaps instead of fleeing the storm, we should sail deeper in pressing into Him. Remembering every time He saw us through, every time he has carried us through when the world said we were lost to the waves.

He will never abandon you, you can never be lost to Him. Spread your arms and embrace the storm- sing your praise even as the waves crest for He is with you and He's doing something. Even when you can't see it. Do you think this storm is a surprise to Him? Oh, sister, I can promise you it isn't.

Trust Him. He's right there with you. He cares about everything- every little detail, everything that touches your life He cares about. No tear is lost in the fibers of your pillow, no sleepless night is lost to Him. You are His treasure, and when the storm rages He is right there sitting in your boat.

Without life's scars, there would be no testimony of His faithfulness in our lives. There would be no reminders of His goodness. No picture of his grace to stand as a testament.

"A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor" ~  Franklin D Rosevelt

Trust Him in the storm- He isn't finished yet. Your story doesn't end in this broken place. The same father that carried you through so many times before is with you. Holding you close.

He is able to restore what the world calls unrestorable- the cracked, the broken, the unusable places He takes them and binds them together. He mends them into something new and beautiful and whole. He is a master craftsman and His specialty is redeeming the unredeemable- and turning it into a lighthouse in others storms A monument to His goodness and a reminder of His love.