Calm in the Storm

Everyone wants to find calm in the storm. Well, actually, everyone wants to avoid storms all together but the reality of life is storms happen. So how does one find calm in the storm?

As a kid (and still as an adult) I find weather to be absolutely terrifying, especially tornadoes. Growing up in central Mississippi, which was part of "Tornado Alley", tornadoes were just part of life for me. Now I never personally was in a tornado but I was in plenty of tornado watches and warnings and spent more than my fair share of school days crouched in a hallway and my nights sleeping our hallway at home. To me tornadoes were the most terrifying because there was no real warning. Sure there was weather that was capable and likely of producing a tornado but no one knew exactly when they would strike. All you could do was be prepared, know where to go, and know the best way to protect yourself. Now here I am, at 34 years old living on the Alabama coast and a storm system that never really bothered me before is now very real: hurricanes. Hurricanes, unlike tornadoes, you can see coming. You can watch the weather as they track them, monitor their strength, and predict where they are going to go. I thought that made them less scary because you had more time to prepare but in honesty knowing what is coming is just as scary as not knowing what is coming and the preparations are pretty much the same. Be prepared, know where to go, and know the best way to protect yourself.

You can't stop storms from coming. Some will seem to pop up out of nowhere and others will brew and grow taking their time until they descend upon you. Either way they are both storms and you must be prepared for either. I'm sure by now you are thinking, "Thanks for the mediocre meteorological lesson but what does this have to do with anything?" I'm glad you fictitiously asked.

Life is full of storms. Things happen... sometimes bad things. Things happen fast and things happen slow, but they will always happen. Storms will always happen, at least on this side of heaven. So what do we do? How do we prepare? The answer is simple. We don't. There is nothing we can do to prepare for the storms this life will throw at us. We are seriously ill equipped to navigate life solo on a good day let alone a bad day. We can do nothing, but God (let me just break here to tell you that the phrase "but God" is one of my all time favorite phrases), He can do everything. He is the one who prepares us for the storms. He is the place where we seek safe shelter. He is the one who has all we need to either brave the storm or ride it out. He is our calm in the storm, our quiet in the chaos, our still in the crazy.

But if He is the only one who can be prepared then what do I do? Abide. Press into Him and let Him show you all of His love and glory. Do this on the sunny days and on the days you are dealing with a F4 tornado. Lay at your Savior's feet and allow Him to teach you all about His goodness; walk with your God daily letting Him lead the way; raise your hands and praise Him when it feels good and when it breaks your heart; take the time to get to know who you Abba Father is and how much He loves you.

I'm currently in a storm and have been for some time. Things in our lives are looking different these days. There are changes happening at a pace my human mind cannot comprehend but I have peace and calm. I can sit still in all the chaos because I am in the shelter of my God. I know I've mentioned BSF before, its truly awesome and life changing, but BSF didn't prepare me for life's storms. Going to BSF hasn't been this quick fix to my life, it isn't magic, and if you sign up you won't automatically be a better Christian and have all this understanding or even a better relationship with God. As much as I love BSF and all those involved I can't give them the credit. I can't take the credit myself either. The only thing I did to gain faith, understanding, and a secure shelter was stop trying to do it myself. In fact it was my actions that were keeping me from God, I tried to do it all on my own. I wanted to be a godly woman so I tried. I wanted to know the Bible so I tried. I tried to be what I thought I was supposed to be. Then, you know what, after a lot of failure and a lot of disappointment I stopped trying. I gave up control. I gave it back to the Creator. He gave me understanding as I read His word, listened to lectures, and praised His name. He grew my faith as He showed me what in my life was bad fruit that needed to be pruned. He shaped me into who I am today. He didn't have to do one bit of that but He did and I am grateful.