This storm too shall pass

Storms of earth...Storms of life...

I don't like storms. There are some people who do. They are called storm chasers. I think those people are crazy! Seriously! Who goes around chasing storms?! Not me. I like to avoid storms as often as possible. But, as much as I would like to avoid storms, all storms for that matter, it's not an option. Storms happen. Sometimes storms can't be avoided.

Storms of life show up...sometimes out of nowhere! Like those when it's nice and pretty outside, around 80 degrees, pleasant then all of a sudden the wind begins to blow, the skies turn dark and we begin to think, 'Ummm, this looks bad, this could get ugly, I better take cover.' And we do. We take cover as soon as and as best as we know how.

I'm curious to know how many remember the old storm shelters? We had one in our neighborhood when I was a child. It no longer exists, but I saw someone else's when I was in Ga for Easter. They seemed to be pretty abundant back in the 70's.

A couple of nights ago we had a pretty big storm. Then yesterday morning as I sat by the beautiful Lake Wheeler, I began to thank God that the storm had passed. It was gone. The sun was shining beautifully over the lake and the skies were blue. The storm was nowhere to be found. So, I sit here today, blogging about my thoughts as I sat there in the warm rays of the sun. It seems I always appreciate those rays of sunlight so much more after a big storm.

Storms are scary.
Storms are loud.
Storms are unpredictable.
Storms are powerful.
Storms get our attention.

Most of the time there's torrential rain, damaging hail, loud thunder, bright flashes of lightning, and howling wind. Scary stuff. Crazy stuff. Uncontrollable stuff.

So, we take cover. We take shelter. We decide where the closest, safest place is and we go there. We take our kids there. We go where the foundation is the most secure and the walls are most protected. We wait. We listen. We wait. We listen. We pray. We wait. We listen. We pray. Until the storm passes. And the storm does pass. It finally passes.

One of the only good things about a storm to me is that it always passes.

The storm passes and we decide to emerge. We step out and begin to assess the damage:
What has been broken?
What has been blown away?
What has been uprooted?
What has been removed?
What has been destroyed?
We have to determine these things before we can realize what needs to be fixed.

We call the home owner's insurance folks and they send an adjuster to evaluate the damage also. With that official assessment and proof of damage, a claim is filed. A claim to receive payment for all the stuff to be fixed.

Then they right a check. A check that can be cashed to pay for the repairs, the damage suffered, and replace everything that was destroyed, lost or blown away.

I've gone through many storms in this life. I would suppose you have too.

My girls always hated storms too when they were younger(well, they still don't like them). I could no doubt, guarantee that when the first bolt of lightening happened and at the first crack of thunder that followed during a storm, I would have two extra little people in bed with me. This happened many nights. I would hate when storms would come through on the nights when they were at their daddy's house. God spoke something very strongly to me one day after a storm had gone through the night before while they were with him. When they came home the next day, I was very eager to see how they had slept. When I asked them about it, they had no idea there had even been a storm! God got my attention in that moment and the Words He spoke to my heart that day was, "I got this, I got them, I can make them sleep through any storm." Those words were more than assuring to me during that time. I can't even try to contain my emotions almost ten years later as I think of them. See, I was in the middle of a huge storm called divorce at the time. My girls were sleeping in their daddy's home on almost half the nights without me. And I didn't like it. God showed me that day that they were His to take care of before they were ever mine. He showed me that He could keep them through the storm we were going through. He showed me was God and I was not.

I went through another storm when I lost one of the dearest persons on this earth to me to heaven. My heart and my life was turned upside down all over again. He was in heaven and I was not. I was not okay with that. Are we ever? It is hard. We miss them something fierce. We have to allow ourselves to mourn and grieve their loss.

Last week, yet another storm showed up. I found myself in a hospital going under anesthesia for the first time to have surgery removing polyps from my uterus. I don't know what was harder, the thought of being put to sleep or waiting to hear if the polyps were cancerous or not. I didn't like it at all. I didn't like anything about it. I am thankful to say they were not praise God. But, that was a pretty big storm for me. One I won't forget too soon. One that certainly had a purpose.

Storms of life definately come. They are unpredictable. They get our attention. We are tempted with that awful thing called fear. They make us go to that place of shelter where we get quiet, we get in His Word, we pray, we listen and we wait. We ask questions. We wonder when is this storm gonna be over? What kinda damage is this gonna do? Am I gonna survive this storm?

Storms come and storms pass.

Things get damaged. Things are lost. Hearts get broken. Dreams get shattered.

The good things is that we have an adjuster. Not just any adjuster, but a divine adjuster. When He comes to assess the damage with us, He comes with the payment in hand. To cover ALL the cost. To cover ALL the damage. To replace ALL the things that were lost. His name is Jesus Christ and the home owner's policy was secured over 2000 years ago and sealed with His own blood when He not only faced but came through the biggest perfect storm of all time. When we choose to follow Him and make Him our everything then He will make sure we survive every storm that will ever come our way.

He not only comes with payment in hand, but He also does all the repair work!!!! There is time that we must set aside for the Repairman to come do what He does best!
Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

He is our great Repairman and we are His masterpiece. He will make us whole again. We are whole again when we are found in Him.

He doesn't just patch up the place either. No. Don't we know how hard it is to match old vinyl siding with new? Old shingles with new? He replaces the whole entire siding! He replaces the whole roof! We needed those old things replaced anyway! Some things get blown away that needed to get blown away! I needed that fear to be removed! I needed that doubt to be removed! I needed my shallow heart to be replaced with a deeper heart of trust. He refuses to put new wine in old wineskins because He knows we can't hold it. We will bust! He puts new wine in new wineskins. It all becomes new. One of my favorite verses is 2Cor 5:17, "What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!" That's good stuff!

No doubt there are many storms of this life. They keep coming and they keep passing. They leave us damaged and they blow us away even at times. But, be encouraged to step out of that place you ran to taking cover when it all began. Step out and call on Jesus.  The premiums have all been fully paid. You and Him together can assess the damage, the loss and destruction. He can do the impossible. He can repair the irrepairable. That's His job. It's what He specializes in most.

Isaiah 53 says, "Yet, it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His trouble (perfect storm) were a punishment from God for His own sins! But He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!"

Isaiah 63:7-9, "I will tell of the Lord's unfailing love. I will praise the Lord for all He has done. I will rejoice in His great goodness to Israel, which He has granted according to His mercy and love. He said, 'They are my very own people. Surely they will not be false again.' And He became their Savior. In all their suffering He also suffered, and He personally rescued them. In His love and mercy, He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years(storms of life)."

Nothing is Wasted

Nothing is wasted...Not one thing...

I pray that's as good to you today as it to me.

I don't know what you may be facing, going through, just went through or about to go through, but I do know that I've been reminded today that none of it is wasted, and I just wanted to pass along the good news.

We are certain to face many things in this life. Things that can be good and things that can be bad. I'm thankful that we can praise God in the good things and because nothing is wasted, I'm thankful that we can make a sacrifice of praise even in the bad things. I could make a list of all the possible bad things we can experience, have already experienced or may be going to experience in this life, but I don't feel it necessary. We can all stop for a few moments and think of those things. Those things that catch us unaware, unprepared.  Those things that punch the breath out of us and leave us gasping for air. Those things that hurt so bad we think we won't survive. Those things that paralyze us and try to stop us from moving forward. Those things that hurt. Those things we have to work through. All kinds of things. Those things...

Those are the things that today we should stop and for a moment be thankful for. Those are the things that we can remind ourselves today that our great, sovereign God has promises for us about. We can begin to breathe again. We can have hope again. We can walk in peace again. We can even experience joy again because of those promises.

Promises like the one in Romans that says He will work all things for our good and for His glory. Or the one over in Thessalonians that tells us to always be joyful, to keep on praying, no matter what happens for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus. Then there's another one when Peter assures us that the grace of God is with us no matter what happens. 

We can say just like the Psalmist says in chapter 66, our lives are in his hands, and he keeps our feet from stumbling. You have tested us, Oh God; you have purified us like silver melted in a crucible.

When the silversmith is working, he has to get the silver really hot, he has to stir the pot and allow the impurities to come to the top. Then he has to scrape off the impurities that surface. He has to do this over and over. Heating, stirring and scraping. Heating, stirring and scraping. Until something happens. Until he can see his reflection in the silver. Until he can see his face when he looks at the silver. Take a moment and relate that to our lives. We as the silver and our God as the Silversmith. Those things in this life as the heat.

Whatever we have gone through, are going through, or will ever go through; we can believe that our Silversmith is at work. His divine hand is stiring us as the crucible is heated up. We are melted and our impurities come to the surface. The Silversmith gently and carefully removes them....This happens over and over, and I believe he too begins to see his reflection. He begins to see himself when he looks at us.

What an overwhelming thought for me right now, because that's what I want more than anything while I'm here in this life. I want my God to see His reflection in me and I want others who don't know him to see his reflection and have to ask the question, "what is that I see?" I believe you want that too. That's when you and I can share how good our God is. We can begin to share how we could've never made it through the hard things without him. The ever more awesome thing is that if we are in Christ Jesus, that is who will be seen. As we live and find our hope and peace in Him, we can rest knowing that he has us. He's got it. We are in Him and He is in us.

Yes, the crucible gets hot and the scraping may not be pleasant. The process may even be painful at times. But, is it worth it. I believe so. I believe my God is a good God and I do believe that nothing is wasted. Everything is used either in making the silver hotter, bringing the impurities to the top, or in scraping them off the surface. Nothing is wasted. Not a brokenheart goes unbinded. Not a tear falls without being caught in a bowl. Not a cry is sounded without it reaching the ears of our loving God. I'll never understand it, but he, our amazing Silversmith, doesn't miss a thing.

Isaiah 43:1-3 says, "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you," says the LORD. "I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you...."


As you listen to this song, be reminded of those hard things and choose to trust that God is at work. He is good. He sees his reflection in his Son as we we are found in him. His love for us is beyond anything we can ever imagine.

Nothing is Wasted by Elevation Worship Band

In the Midst of it All

Somedays I wake up and think...

If I could, I would move me and my girls to a secluded island. 

A simplified lifestyle. 

Uninterrupted time with my God and my girls. 

I would escape this to do list, this work schedule, these bills I'm paying...

I would simply escape...

Anybody else reading ever have those days? 

Yesterday was one of those days. Nothing major bad was going on...I was just tired of being in this world. I wanted to have a clear view of my God sitting on my back porch, but there were trees (literal and emotional) in the way. I wanted to be somewhere else, but I wasn't. Yes, I am thankful, very thankful for my back porch and the trees that surround it, but yesterday I just wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere there were no trees (literal and emotional) obscuring my view. Where nothing was on my agenda other than sitting, gazing at a clear blue sky and chilling with my God. 

As I sat there, I began to think of a mother in Honduras who lost her baby at 5 and 1/2 months. She had began to have complications and began to miscarry when she made it to the remote community clinic where we were. There was nothing we could do to stop the process and sending her to a hospital nearly two hours away by dirt road was our only option. We later learned the baby had not survived. Then there is another mother I worked with this week who recently went into labor at 6months, gave birth to a 1 and 1/2 pound baby boy who is at Duke and "doing well". Stuff like that messes with me. It does. I'm just being real. I began to cry and mourn for a mother I may never see again. I also began to thank God for the baby boy at Duke and the plans He has for his precious life. Different places, different lives, different worlds...

After a little while in His Word and trying to pray through some "thoughts/questions"

I had reminded myself I had a list of things to do, so I got busy doing them...

Straigten up the house-check

Surprise Abby at lunch with coke and donut holes-check

Get package in the mail-check

Get anniversary card-check

Get pliars for plumbing job-check

Go to Lake Benson(one of my favs) for some me and God time...check NOT!...uggh! There were people there, kids playing and splashing in the water, how dare they be at my spot! When I want to be there! alone with my God! 

Frustrated I left, went through the car wash, headed to Lowe's to get a drainpipe for the downspout (which I destroyed, melted, burnt up...when I unknowingly built my firepit over it over a year ago)

Pick up the kids-check

Come home, do a little plumbing, get the downspout in place...-check

.....I think that's enough....the day was full to say the least....

Then this morning I get up and what words do I read? A devo that I read on most days, Jesus Calling...but I decided to read yesterday's since I had skipped it...

"I am calling you to a life of constant communion with me...learning to live above your circumstances...your cluttered plane of life...you yearn for a simplified lifestyle, uninterrupted...BUT...I challenge you to relenquish the fantasy of an uncluttered world. Accept each day just as it comes, and find Me in the midst of it all. Talk with me...your ultimate goal is not to fix everything around you, it is to keep communing with Me...."

Wow!!! I just have to say, WOW! I love my God, I love His Word. I love how He speaks directly to me, my feelings, my thoughts...my heart.

In the midst of it all...In the midst of it ALL...IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL...

He is good. He is here. He is with me. 

I can have constant communion with my Constant Companion no matter what I'm doing. I can live above my circumstances. I can love those He sends my way in the midst of this cluttered world. That's the way He planned it. That's His ways, not my ways. He put us here in the midst of it all to shine His light. To show His grace. To love. No matter what. 

Because of Christ. Because of what He has done for me. Because of the choices He made while He was in this cluttered world. Because He made a decision in the garden that day, "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine." Because Jesus wanted His Father's ways more. Because He went through with the plan...

Because as Jesus talked to His disciples one final time before going to the cross, He spoke these words in Luke 16:33, "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

There are some days (like yesterday for me) when we simply try to put things in order, in our head, in our mind, in our own ways... We try to make sense of it all, we try to fix all the clutter. We get overwhelmed and we want to escape to an island somewhere...underneath some palm trees somewhere. On most days that's not an option...Those are the days when we have a choice to make...I believe the only good choice is to trust His ways are not our ways; and His thoughts are way higher than our thoughts. We choose to believe He has a good plan. We may not understand it fully, but we choose His peace over our understanding. Days like those we have to keep our eyes open and ears in tune to His Holy Spirit to be ready for whatever He has planned IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL. We have to let go of our fantasy world and let God do what He wants, show up in whatever way He chooses. Easter is a celebration of that. Jesus has overcome the world. He has! Jesus has overcome the world, and if we are in Jesus then we can overcome the world. We can live above our circumstances. Even when we wake up and don't feel so much as even wanting be where we are or do what we gotta do that day, we can overcome and walk in His peace. We can show love IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL because we can know that there is more to this life that what we see or know. When we experience trials and sorrows we can take heart...because Jesus has overcome all of that. We can hold on. We can trust in Him. We can trust His peace that goes beyond our understanding IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL.

May you worship our Redeemer as you listen to one of my favorite songs:

My Redeemer Lives:Nicole C Mullen

Not just this Easter Sunday, but every day, may we celebrate the greatest event in all of history...

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior, our great Redeemer!