Every day,you can ask yourself the question;
“Okay,now what are you going to do?”
What are you going to do with this, with what’s going on, right now? With things that you can’t control or have little influence over? Are you going to let those things overwhelm and discourage you or are you going to let God push you back up and press on?
What are you going to do with today? This hour? This moment? Are you going to run from it, let it pass, or embrace it and jump with all you’ve got?
There was this time in the Bible when Jesus and the disciples were all in a boat crossing a lake. Jesus falls asleep and a huge storm comes. The disciples are freaking out, panicking and thinking that they are about to die. When they bring the storm to Jesus’ attention, he asks them where their faith is and with a few words, he brings the raging chaos to a complete calm.
 “He commands even the winds and the water and they obey him.”
-Luke 8:25b
He created and controls the elements of the universe. That’s whom I live for and who calms the storms in my life and brings me comfort and peace in those times.
Storms can come in all shapes and sizes.
They can be literal storms of wind and rain that bring fear, anxiety, and damage.
They can be a visit to the doctor with a potentially life-altering diagnosis. Waiting for those results to confirm or deny what could change or end your life is a storm of a place to be in. They can be times of uncertainty and opposition at work.
A season where it’s a struggle just to tread water to keep your head above water.
Or they can be turbulent times in personal, family, and friend relationships. When everything you hoped for or expected turns out completely opposite and the winds rage against your heart. Sometimes those kind of storms don’t seem to know when to let up. The damage seems to have been done, but it continues on.
Where I’m from, we might call that a Nor’ Easter. A sudden, powerful, and drastic change in the weather that occurs very quickly.
Storms often seem to highlight just how powerless we are ultimately. You can take precautions, you can batten down the hatches, but when the winds of life blow and the waves crash down, you can still get battered and bruised.
However, you don’t have to get swept away.
“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, though it’s waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” – Psalm 46:1-3
The image of God as my refuge has meant a lot to me these last few months. A refuge is a place of safety, where you run to during a storm to get out of the wind and rain. A place of protection. A place to renew and restore your strength. When I’ve felt overwhelmed, discouraged, and alone, I know that He is there. I can run to Him and take shelter in His arms. He cares for me more than I can comprehend, He loves me more than I will ever know, He hears me when I cry to Him, and He speaks to me when I listen. He is more than capable of handling the situations that come up in my life.
Now the question is; am I going to admit that I need help, and let Him take control? I really had none to begin with, but am I going to make the decision to let go and let God take the wheel? Give Him all my fears, anxieties, struggles, and uncertainties? Sometimes I forget, but it’s a lot easier when you do.
Let it rain.
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