In the midst

Each of us has been in the midst of it all. You know. A struggle. A challenge. A heartbreak. For some, whatever it has been, the struggle hasn’t thrown you off your rhythm. You’ve had a struggle, but you still forge ahead.  The challenge hasn’t knocked you out cold. Hooray!  In this next theme—STORMS—I’m going to tackle not just the bad thunderstorms of our lives, but the tsunamis as well. What do we do in the midst of it all?

My intent here is to not to speculate about how some people hold up better than others in a storm. Although…I’ve always wondered when I worked with those little guys in first grade how the response can be so different. If you’re a parent of more than one child, I’m sure you’ve wondered too… how one little guy would just say ‘Oh, OK’, when an error was noted, and then go about correcting his work. But, how another would go into great agony to hide the mistake or worse, reveal the despair or anger – ripped up paper, crumpled into a ball thrown in the garbage, stomping or head-down-on-the-desk despair. Some people cope, they endure storms with more resilience and staying power than others. Some cry out–loudly. And there are some who just don’t reveal the hurt.  It hides inside, disguised as toughness.

My goal is to bring you some hope if you are ‘In the midst‘. Perhaps sharing my experiences with the storms will provide hope. For me, my responses to storms occurred two times in my life:

Before I let God in ~ After I let God in.

If you haven’t let God ride the storm with you, I hope you will invite Him to get in the boat. Because one thing is for certain, the storms will come.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea… ”   Psalm 46:1-2 (NIV)

I’ve never experienced a natural disaster that has affected my home, family, or health. I’ve witnessed the pain and loss as a crisis response chaplain, but it’s not the same. To lose everything to a tornado or flood is devastating. To lose loved ones in the storm—I can only imagine the pain and suffering and confusion.

“Where were You God?!”   “Why did You allow this to happen to me? to us?”

I have experienced storms of betrayal, of illness, of losing someone to death or almost death. I have had personal storms that lived inside of me: the storms of failure, disillusionment, and loneliness. Turning my whole life upside down. The questions still come and we still ask Him.

“Don’t You care?”

“Personal storms also are an inevitable part of the human experience. When they strike, there is no government agency to call. No insurance company to assess the damage and reimburse us. No hiding place. Which is why these storms can be frightening and unsettling.  The good news is that the God of all Creation, who is majestic and all-mighty, walks on the winds of the storm to offer us refuge in Himself. And He can help clean up the debris that’s left.” Anne Graham Lotz

If you are ‘In the midst‘ right now my heart goes out to you, I pray you are given hugs, friends, time …and all I can say is, “I think I understand, because I’ve been there before.”

There isn’t much that eases being in the middle of incredible heartache, not much at all.

But I do know this: until you completely accept that you trust God to be there with you and that He will make known what you need to know, your storm will wrench you apart.

I’ve gone through it both ways.

Charles Spurgeon, a 19th century preacher in London, speaks about affliction. It is said he had preached to over 10 million people in his lifetime. At 16 he was lost in a snowstorm and was led to safety and to believe in Christ. Throughout his lifetime he struggled with depression and met with controversy and tragedy. His heart continued to grow stronger towards God through it all. He sees life storms as God building His temple. He speaks with the eloquent language of the 1850’s—rich in concept and passion:

Christ Himself is the builder of His spiritual temple, and He has built it on the mountains of His unchangeable affection, His omnipotent grace, and His infallible truthfulness. But as it was in Solomon’s temple, so in this; the materials need making ready. There are the “Cedars of Lebanon,” but they are not framed for the building; they are not cut down, and shaped, and made into those planks of cedar, whose beauty shall make glad the courts of the Lord’s house in Paradise. There are also the rough stones still in the quarry, they must be hewn thence, and squared. All this is Christ’s own work. Each individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready for his place in the temple; but Christ’s own hand performs the preparation-work… the making ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction, no planing us with suffering. No, we must be made meet here–all that Christ will do beforehand; and when He has done it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream of death, and brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, to abide as eternal pillars in the temple of our Lord. (from Morning Daily Devotions, June 22)

If you are ‘In the midst’ please continue to read these STORMS posts. I’ll share some my stories and those from others. Feel free to share yours.

God will never, never leave you…especially in the midst. He promised that, and so much more.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)