Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck. Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me. [Psalm 69:1-3 (NLT)]
Every few minutes, Sunday’s service in the park was interrupted by the sound of planes leaving the local airport. A severe storm with gale winds or tornadoes was predicted and the planes (and people in them) were escaping the storm. Perhaps they remembered the storm just a year ago that brought wind gusts of 85 mph when both planes and hangars at the airport were damaged. How fitting that our pastor’s message was about the storms of life. As I listened to those private jets overhead, I thought, “You can run, but you can’t hide!”
Given enough warning, we can escape stormy weather, especially if we’re rich and/or famous as many of those flying away were. Nevertheless, no matter who we are or how much we have, none of us are immune to the storms of life. More often than not, those storms will be like last January’s—somewhat unexpected. Granted, there was a tornado warning issued in the wee hours of the morning but most people slept through it. While they slumbered, a storm battered the city and left them with downed power lines, severe wind damage, scattered debris, and a flooded downtown. As with tornado alerts, we often fail to heed life’s storm warnings when heath is fading, mental ability is lessening, a marriage is crumbling, a child is using, a business is going under, or our nest egg is disappearing. We‘re caught off guard when we wake to the storm’s presence.
While we may lessen a storm’s damage by heeding warnings or preparing for its arrival, ready or not, storms will arrive. At some point in time, we’ll be battered by circumstances beyond our control and left feeling powerless. When the storm hits, life as we once knew it will wash away in the flood. We’ll look at the wreckage that remains and be tempted to give up. After last year’s wind storm, however, people didn’t give up. They coped with lack of power and water, removed the trees in the roads, kept what could be salvaged, discarded what couldn’t, and rebuilt what was destroyed. When the storms of life arrive, we can’t give up either. No matter how extensive the storm, we must remember that our God is bigger and far more powerful than even a category 5 hurricane!
We know God can stop storms; with just a word, Jesus stopped the wind and calmed the sea for the disciples. Not every storm, however, will be quelled. Some must be endured as they run their course. They may be so severe that we’re shipwrecked, as was the Apostle Paul. He encountered such severe storms that he was shipwrecked three times and even spent a day and night adrift at sea. God can calm the storm as He did for the disciples or He can calm us, as He did for Paul. The Apostle knew that when we no longer can hold on to the debris of our lives, we can hold on to God! No matter how faithful, we will never have a life that is free from storms but, with the power of God, we can have a life that no storm can defeat.
Sometimes the Lord rides out the storm with us and other times He calms the restless sea around us. Most of all, He calms the storm inside us in our deepest inner soul. [Lloyd John Ogilvie]
While visiting family in California, I joined my daughter-in-law and her walking group on their morning hike. The leader advised us that it was about a six mile walk—what she didn’t mention was it was all uphill for the first three plus miles. Although we started off together, the group quickly fragmented. The leader and some exceptionally fit and fast walkers were in the lead. I was in the middle group; unfamiliar with the area, I was not about to lose sight of our leader and risk getting lost. Behind us was another group and, bringing up the rear, were three stragglers who abandoned us within the first twenty minutes. After an hour of walking uphill, we finally reached level ground and heaved sighs of relief. The dozen remaining walkers stopped briefly while our leader explained the rest of the course—about a mile more of climbing before starting the descent back to the parking lot. At that point, mutiny occurred and more than half the group decided to take an easier and mostly downhill route back. Used to the flatlands of southwest Florida, I was happy to join my daughter-in-law in her desertion.
Patience may be one of the fruits of the Spirit but there appears to be a shortage of it in my life’s orchard. Paul tells us that hardships teach us patience and patience develops strength of character but I imagine most of us are impatient to see all of that character building come to an end. Moses must have grown impatient leading the Israelites all those years, yet consider the patience God had during those same forty years as He dealt with His children’s disobedience, ingratitude and complaints. In fact, consider how patient God has been with mankind since the beginning of time. We err and stray, forget and disobey, ignore, defy and even deny Him, yet He still hasn’t given up on us. Mercifully, we have a God who loves us and, as Paul tells us, love is patient and kind. Remembering that the measure we use to give will be used to measure what we receive, we must be patient with others if we want God to be patient with us.
I have a small wooden box on my desk—my “God box.” It’s where I literally give my concerns to God; right now there are three items in it. The first is a photograph of a little girl. It is my grand, a sweet child with three congenital heart defects—none of which is going to disappear and all of which promise more trouble in the future. She also has learning issues—none of which will dissipate and all of which will cause more difficulty as she progresses into higher grades. The second item is a medallion from a sobriety program. It represents several people I love who have battled alcoholism or addiction—a battle they will continue to fight daily for the rest of their lives. The third item is a laminated card on which is written Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer. That one is for me.
Devotions of the Heart 