In the Midst of a Storm
It has been pouring rain all morning. Like buckets of rain. I watched it coming down off my back porch this morning before coming into the office. I thought of the many conversations I have had in the last week and a half. Many of you are going through your own personal storms in life. As I prayed for these individuals by name this morning, I thought I would focus this week’s blog on finding peace in the midst of life’s storms.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”~ Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
This verse reminds me that we have in Jesus a Savior who loves us and wants to walk alongside us - especially when life's circumstances are challenging, wearisome, and hard. When the hurt, confusion, and unknown are more than we can bear, Christ invites us to “Come to Him.”
““Often times God demonstrates His faithfulness in adversity by providing for us what we need to survive. He does not change our painful circumstances. He sustains us through them.””
Many times, I have prayed and prayed that God would change my circumstances. I wanted Him to “fix” it. It’s hard to have perspective in the midst of trials, but as those circumstances have resolved and as time passes, I look back over those seasons and I am able to see how God was sustaining me through them. He remained faithful and gave me everything I needed, but He allowed me to go through them.
I don’t know what your storm looks like today. My prayer for you is that you would seek an eternal perspective on your circumstances. How might God be at work in your life, or in the lives of others involved through this? If you have been in this season for awhile, what ways have your seen growth? What have you learned about yourself and about God in the past weeks and months?
Whatever you are going through, please know that you are not in this alone.
““In any trial, in any bitter situation, you are not alone, you are not helpless, you are not a victim. You have a tree, a cross, shown to you by the Sovereign God of Calvary. Whatever the trial or temptation, it is not more than you can bear. It is bearable. It can be handled. You can know as Joseph knew, “The evil one intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20).””
I’ll close this week’s blog with a final prayer I once read from St. Augustine:
"God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down; when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies grey and threatening; when our lives have no music in them, and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage. Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; tune our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of comradeship with heroes and saints of every age; and so quicken our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life, to Your honor and glory."