Storms!

Storms, storms, storms on the news this evening that were raging outside my window and storms in our lives, did I say STORMS?

That makes me think of a song we used to sing (Charles A Tindley) “When the storms of life are raging, stand by me, when the storms of life are raging stand by me, when the When the hosts of hell assail, And my strength begins to fail, Thou Who never lost a battle, Stand by me.”

I remember seeing a painting depicting a terrible storm raging over the sea, you can see a cliff and in a little hole in the side of that great cliff there is a little nest with a bird peacefully sitting on her eggs. That is peace in the midst of a storm!

Psalms 91 You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, Say this: “God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!” That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you—under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm. Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon. Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you. You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses. Yes, because God’s your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door. He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling. You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes, and kick young lions and serpents from the path. “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the best of care if you’ll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party. I’ll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!” 

When a storm is approaching we have warnings and people watching and telling us what to expect and every twist and turnout will take; the storms in our lives don’t usually give us any warning, we tend to get caught off guard. We think everything is super fine and bang, we get hit with a loved one suddenly becoming ill or dying, you get fired from a job you thought was secure, or you find out the relationship you thought was solid, isn’t. Instead of folding under the pressure we need to be like the little bird in the storm, knowing that God has us safely held in the palm of His hand.