The Journey

Storms vary. Thunderstorms. Blizzards. Tornadoes and cyclones. Hurricanes and  tsunamis. Nor’easters. Derechos. Hubbubs. Ice, wind, hail, fire, sand storms. THE Perfect Storm. They all wreak havoc. They all have the potential to create destruction. They all cause fear.

The storms in our lives can come in a meteorological storm. Most often they come in the form of illness, death, heartache, persecution, rejection, betrayal, and mental anguish. They all create pain and suffering. There is no one who escapes storms. What is your journey when a storm hits?

Writing about suffering is a bit overwhelming.

It is in my nature and training to write only after I’ve researched and learned from others. “Who am I to share wisdom about anything when there are thousands who have gained wisdom from their experiences or training?”  I love research, and would spend months gathering sources to share here about the human suffering.

Suffering is universal, but personal. Each person’s experience could bring another dimension to the telling. Our life’s journey is a woven tapestry. What amazing detail and uniqueness is in such a masterpiece! And then you turn it over to see thousands and thousands of threads awry and twined–looking like a great upheaval. The Designer of our Tapestry has worked it out in such complexity and with a great deal of ‘mess’. But when He finishes His piece, it is a work of art.

That’s the point. He is in our ‘mess’.

Our storms can be mental, emotional, or physical. They can come from intellectual or spiritual confusion. Often they are relational. Often they come while watching someone in the midst of their own storm.

Suffering, although unavoidable and ever-present, is dark and forlorn; it is such a down place to be. We are given a choice on how we get through it all.

Journey choices when a storm hits:

• Angry, bitter resentment ~ this can lead to shutting people and God out; not much can be learned from this journey.

• Terrified and therefore, petrified ~ this may lead to the storm sweeping you away.

• Woeful regret and guilty sorrow ~ there is no calm after the storm when you think you caused it or that you could have prevented it.

• Tough denial and faking it ~ this leaves little room for something positive to come from it all.

• Whining, complaining; wearing a ‘woe is me’ label ~ eventually you will have no one to listen.

• Fighting back saying,  ‘you can’t beat me down’ ~ that Perfect Storm may just be your last storm.

• Trusting, surrendering to God’s tapestry-making grace ~ calm, growth, assurance are His promises.

Which journey have you taken when a storm hits?

I can truly say that I’ve definitely chosen many of these before I found the power in the Journey of Trust and Surrender.

For me that choice took one storm after another to finally want to be on the journey where KNOWING God is right there, in the midst of it all, holding me up.

It’s a matter of what God wants to teach us, isn’t it? Perhaps each journey prepares us for the next storm.

I often chose to buck it up and move on. There were times I felt tremendous guilt for causing the storm. I would privately whine and complain to God – ‘Why aren’t You doing something? Don’t You care?’

There were times where I covered up and denied the severity of my storm. In these times I never looked for His presence. In these storms I never accepted the comfort that was being offered. I just wallowed, regretted, complained. God couldn’t reach me with His amazing teaching that can come from my storm. I had my windbreaker over my head, sopping wet, confused and cold. Stomping in the puddles, not looking where I was going.

Then a storm came that I couldn’t handle.

I almost lost my precious daughter. I cried out to Christ. Grabbed His hand. There are no words to describe how the storm looked, how it felt when I held on to God. No words to define how it affected me…how I arrived safe on shore. How it taught me to prepare for the next storm. I can’t imagine anyone going through such a storm without God’s strong hands.

The difference was night and day.

Matthew 14:22-33 and John 6:16-21 tell the story of the disciples in a nasty storm. You know, the one where Jesus walks on water? These guys were tough, strong fishermen used to rough waters; yet this storm was overcoming them. Jesus wasn’t with them when they began to strain against the wind. He saw them struggling and He walked out to join them in the storm. At first they didn’t recognize Him; but when Peter did, he is overwhelmed with relief; he leapt to join Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Come! Do it!, Go ahead!’ Peter did just fine looking straight at Jesus, and then he looked down and saw the power of the storm under his feet. He began to sink. ‘IMMEDIATELY’ Christ was there, lifted him up, and brought him on board. As they joined the others, the storm ceased. A great story, huh? A good one to tell the kids. The lesson God is teaching us about being in our storms is a powerful one. I hope you don’t miss it. My dear pastor taught us about this passage. Think about these observations he made then read the incredibly hopeful words spoken about Christ wanting to be with us in our storm:

• Jesus told them to go into the boat.
• He ordered them into a storm.
• Jesus had the power to end the storm from the shore.
• He could have given them super strength to battle the storm.
• He could have transported them away to the opposite shore.
• He chose to walk to them IN the storm.

“When the disciples were struggling, when they were having problems, when they couldn’t get ahead, when they were straining, when they were in the middle of the storm, when they were frustrated….Jesus came to them. He didn’t make their life better nor change the circumstance to make their life easier. He came to them. He had to do something impossible to get there and He had to let them know He was doing it for them. He wanted to walk to them, to be with them; because He had a relationship with them. He wanted to be part of their journey.

He wants to walk to you in your storm, because He wants to be with you when you are struggling, to help you get through the storm. He wants to be part of your journey.

Jesus is able. His actions speak: ‘I am in control. The storms don’t bother me. I’m on top of things. The storm doesn’t have power over me. Chaos doesn’t stop me. Look at me, not the storm.”  He calmly comes to us WHILE we are straining. He sees our need. He comes to us. In the storm.

Who comes when you are in a storm? Jesus wants it to be Him.” (Walking Where Needed)

Are you afraid to let Him in your boat?

He declares to us, “Don’t be afraid, it’s Me, I’m here.”

Let Him join you when the storms hit.