Grace in the Storms

For as long as I can remember, I have always thought that being a storm chaser would be the coolest job EVER!

Whenever a thunderstorm would come to our house my mom always knew that she would find me near the largest window with the clearest view of the sky, usually with it open as if I had a death wish of being struck by lightning. Twister was a movie I never got tired of. Oh, and the storm chaser shows on the Weather Channel, those were my favorite. I spent many Friday nights staying up too late watching them. I would imagine what it must be like to see the lightning and feel the thunder shake the ground beneath my feet, to feel the rush of running along side a tornado. However none of these things happen without leaving a trail of devastation in their wake. I would always wish that I could chase storms and see them in all their magnificent glory, but nobody would get hurt and they wouldn’t destroy anything. 

 

I often find that I view the storms of life with the same perspective. Sometimes the storms come without warning as a result of circumstances in our lives that are beyond our control. But often I find myself going in search of the storms in my life, seeking them out.

I have been very convicted over the last week as I have been slogging my way through finals. God has been opening my eyes to some ways that I have become lazy and prideful in my life, most especially when it comes to doing something that I don’t necessarily WANT to do.

I have always found school only slightly enjoyable at best. While I enjoyed what I was learning, I never particularly cared for the work that came with learning it. Since I began my college career I have become less and less motivated to get things done. I find myself more and more wishing that I was just finished and not caring how I get there. Now I was not considering dropping out or anything, but I did not want to put any more effort than absolutely necessary into completing my degree. Every term it is the same old story. I start off feeling really good about my classes and expecting myself to do really well, but by half way through the term I find that I have fallen behind and I struggle to make passing grades. Then I stress because it might be the difference between my graduating or not, and failing this course and not graduating would mean the end of all my dreams and my life would be over and I would be stuck living with my parents making minimum wage (if that) for the rest of my life, if only I had done this or not done that… etc.  I find that just like my dream of being a storm chaser, I make decisions that put me right in the path of the tornado and then panic because I don’t want to deal with the aftermath. 

During these last couple weeks I found myself feeling very guilty over caring so little for the precious gifts that God has given me. Imagine what it would be like if God only put as much effort into loving me as I put into my school work, keeping my room clean, or taking care of any number of other things that I find to be difficult and un-enjoyable. If that were the case then the first time I messed up or sinned and loving me was no longer fun but took work, He would have just given up and decided that I was a hopeless case so why bother? And He most certainly would not have died for me.

Thankfully that is not who God is! He offers me so much more grace than that and He even continues to bless me, even when I am so ungrateful for the things He has given me. I am far from perfect, but that is the beauty of God’s perfect love, He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. If we were perfect, we would have no need for grace. 

God is asking me to grow in so many ways right now, but one of the biggest ones is my willingness to grow. He wants me to stop chasing after the storms of life and start chasing after Him. To stop using Him as a life raft when my messy life gets flooded with my mistakes and to start finding shelter in Him before the storm hits so that I can wait it out in the comfort of His embrace and the assurances of His promises, and to be grateful for the opportunities and gifts that He gives me, to treasure them rather than squander them. Finally and possibly most importantly, He wants us to always remember that when we do mess up (and we certainly will), that He offers His grace and forgiveness freely to us, all we have to do is take it.

 

¹⁴ Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)