Trusting God in the Midst of the Storm

Every year there are numerous storms that rage across the landscapes of the world. So far this year, the Colorado State University Meteorologist Forecaster’s Team anticipates 17 tropical storms, with nine of those becoming hurricanes during the season that runs from June 1 to November 30. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, anticipate that 2014 will see an increase in storms lacing across the regions of the world in the form of Cyclones, Typhoons, Monsoons, and Hurricanes. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center regularly updates the hurricane outlook predictions. (http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/)



Cyclonic Storms around the World

The Hurricane 

A hurricane is a powerful, rotating storm that forms over warm oceans near the equator in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, or the eastern Pacific Ocean. 

The Severe Tropical Cyclone

A cyclone is a closed, rotating wind. Cyclones rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Typhoon

A typhoon is a violent tropical cyclonic storm that forms in the Western Pacific Ocean. It derives its name from the Chinese word taaîfung, which means Great Whirling Wind.

Life Storms hit Everyone 

Everywhere we look there are multitudes of recurrent Life Storms that are raging across people’s lives. These unexpected events impact financial resources, destabilize a family's economic security, and in some cases greatly affect their capacity to survive. Life Storms crash into us in recurring waves, just like the great whirling winds of cyclonic storms. 


Each wave envelopes us before we have fully recovered from the impact of the previous one. We often continue to cope with each storm the very same way we did the last one. We hunker down, hang on and try to survive the onslaught of the storm. It may be a death in the family, the foreclosure of the family home, the collapse of a business, or any number of tragic events.

Life Storms can Transform our Faith

You may think that God is punishing you, or isn’t taking care of you, but life storms hit everyone, and they often come without advance notice. When a storm hits your life, after a period of intensity, there will always be a period of calm. It often does not mean that the storm is over, for you just might be standing in the eye of the storm. Without tough times, faith does not grow. Stormy trials are periodic disruptions in our life to keep our faith riveted in God, and not our financial portfolio, our financial consultant, our 401 k or anything else that can easily become a false god in our lives.


In the Eye of the Storm
 

“On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 

"And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”  Mark 4:35-41

Restore your Faith in God

 Like a howling hurricane, whose counterclockwise motion goes in a circle in the opposite direction from the way a clock moves, Life Storms cause us think through problem solving impulsively, irrationally and often not Biblically. The Devil likes to make us dizzy, overwhelmed, and confused during a Life Storm. 

Jesus had told the disciples,“Let us go over to the other side."

They kept their eyes on the storm instead of holding firm to the promise of His word to them. He promised that they would make it to the other side, He just didn't mention that  a storm would hit them on the way to test their faith.

Surrounding the eye of the storm is the eyewall. It is a band of thunder clouds. The eyewall has the most rain and the strongest winds of the storm, gusting up to 225 mph.

The devil wants us to try to break through the wall of the storm in our own strength, or run away from it. That would be disastrous. Stand firm in the Eye of the Storm and look straight up, and you will see the sun shining in the sky above. Storms are not something that God cannot see you through. God will always show us how to respond Biblically in any situation. The details may vary, but principles from His Word do not (See Proverbs 3:5-6).

“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. “ Psalm 119:105

Renew your Strength


In The Quiet Place we are able to draw strength from God’s presence, and be renewed through His Word. Give the burden of your Life Storm to God and lay it down at the Throne of Grace. (See I Peter 5:7; Hebrews 4:16) 

It becomes a way of thinking the more we practice the presence of God in our prayer life. It is a discipline of being present in His presence, no matter what is going on around us.

 

“My life dissolves and weeps itself away for heaviness; raise me up and strengthen me according to [ the promises of ] Your Word.”  Psalm 119:27-28 (AMP) 

Even the beginning of new seed faith in our trust in God gives spiritual awakening in our heart and produces renewed faith.

Pray to God to give you strength today for whatever Life Storm that you are going through. “In the day when I cried you answered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.” Psalm 138:3

Rest in His Word

There is a calm assurance that comes to one who has trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That confidence comes through our daily time of worship in The Quiet Place as we pray and read the Scriptures. 

“Remember the Word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your Word has revived me.” Psalm 119:49-51

God will reveal how to get through the Life Storms that crash in upon any of us. He calls us to spend time with Him in The Quiet Place. He will show us how to stand firm in the Eye of the Storm, strengthened in our faith as we trust in His Word, to show us the way. God will always be faithful.

Take a few moments to listen to this very inspirational video. Remember, there is no storm so great, that takes God by surprise....He is right there...reach out to Him.

 
                                             


My new book for the storms in your life:

One of the most challenging times in our life often comes when we find ourselves on the edge of facing a distressing life storm for which we feel completely unprepared, and inadequate to deal with it. As the storm builds with intensity upon the horizon, we know we are at the very edge of our ability to cope, our capacity to access urgently needed inner resources, and we desperately need our faith to see us through.

myBook.to/trustinggodinthemidstofalifestorm