Storms

Storms. Picture them in your mind. Sometimes they come out of nowhere. You can be having a great day outside when all of a sudden, the winds start to change, the air feels different, and to some, even smells different. Not everyone can smell rain, but if you are one that can, you know something is coming. What do you do next? Usually you take shelter or cover. If you love storms you sit on your porch and watch it pass, others may head indoors.

Some storms are just a show of Nature’s power and strength. The winds come, the trees blow, the sky changes and cooler temps are in the air. Other times, we hear a far off rumble in the sky that gets louder and louder as it moves closer. If lightening is involved you may remember as a small child, for every second you can count between the thunder and the lightening is a mile in distance for the storm to reach you, so you count.

Still other storms come and the windows rattle, the trees are now bending in half, and you are no longer watching on the porch, but from the safety inside, you see all your porch furniture blowing. It is a bad one. Your neighbor loses part of his roof. A branch crashes through your window. The rains come pouring down and making small streams on your driveway.

Now imagine you are on a ship out in the big, deep, blue ocean. You see wave after wave coming, the blue water is soon turned to white caps and you try hard to hold on, but trying to keep your balance is out of the question. No matter how hard you try, you can’t stand up. Wave after wave knocks you down. There is nowhere to go, you just hang on and hope it passes quickly. (hope I didn’t make you seasick).

That is what happened to the disciples and they were with the Creator himself, who controls all Nature, only they didn’t fully understand that. They knew they could run to him, but they had no idea what He would do. I like the account Luke gives us in Chapter 8:22-25

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out. On the way across, Jesus lay down for a nap, and while he was sleeping, the wind began to rise. A fierce storm developed that threatened to swamp them, and they were in real danger. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” So Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves. The storm stopped and all was calm! Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” And they were in filled with awe and amazement. They said to one another, “Who is this man, that even the winds and waves obey him?”

This past month, I experienced some storms and I suspect you did too. Things were going well. I had a routine I liked. Things were running smoothly. The first waves that started to come were small and the air began to change a bit. I was simply eating a few peanut M & M’s one of my favorite snacks. I felt it go suddenly. The corner of my lower molar hurt so badly. But within seconds in seemed to pass. Then a few days later, while eating chips (I do eat good foods as well, in case you are wondering), I felt like a rock was in my mouth. I broke my tooth. I called the dentist and they were out of the office for vacation and I had to wait 2 weeks for an appointment. The time went quickly. I went to have the tooth repaired and a crown was in order. They had to first build the tooth up and while doing so the other corner was breaking off. So, they were able to repair the tooth, but I had to wait 4 more weeks, to make sure the nerve was still okay. Thankfully, it was. I went for the crown and for the first time in my life, the Novocain simply would not take. I felt most of the drilling. My dentist felt awful and tried to help me as much as possible. These things happen. As I lay in the chair, I realized something pretty amazing was happening. I didn’t bolt or ask to reschedule. I simply prayed my way through it. I had no one else to reach out to, but to Jesus. He knew my fears of dentist and mouth issues. He knew why those issues were there. He simply held my face still and gave me the strength and courage to get through it.

I barely got that appointment finished when I received news from my ENT Dr. that a CT scan needed to be scheduled for my sinuses and then two days later were the results. The results, show why I am having so much trouble with my allergies and surgery is needed and will be in November. The surgery is very common for him, but does carry risks, that I am willing to take, in order to feel better, but still would appreciate your prayers.

The final wave came just hours later, our daughter was having some shoulder issues. Her doctor has decided she needs physical therapy for an undecided amount of time. Hopefully a month or so. If this doesn’t work, cortisone shots will be needed, and if still not corrected, surgery. Surgery most likely will not be needed, but it is floating out there. I don’t need to tell you, money has been attached to all of these waves.

I feel like some days I can’t catch my breath because of what keeps coming. But yesterday, I had the wave of peace wash over me. That is the reason for this blog. It has gotten longer than I intended, but truly feel someone out in Internet Land, needs to hear this too.

God is with us in the storms of life. I could be experiencing much, much worse storms. Remember the beginning of this post? Some storms, come and go. Some bring rain. Some are just a show of strength, and some are damaging. The disciples had the Creator right with them, yet, they were still scared. There are times in my life I beg God to stop the storm before it hits. Then there are times, I pray to avoid it. Yet, other times, I pray He will help me through it, because like it or not, the waves keep coming.

This season of my life, He seems to be walking right down through the middle. He isn’t taking the storms away, He isn’t stopping them. He is however, holding my head and resting His strong hand on my shoulder. He is walking right beside me. While getting my tooth drilled, he held my head. While alone on that table, while the camera spun and pictures were being taken he held my head still because I couldn’t move for 5 minutes or they would need to start all over. While getting the results, He pulled a chair up next to mine and put his arm around my shoulders and looked at the images with me, so I would have something physical to see and understand. I know in November his hands will be on my surgeons hands. I have been praying and begging for relief from my allergies. He is giving me the help I asked for in a way I hadn’t thought.  My daughter, she noticed a difference already after one session. We have insurance and so we won’t have to pay all the bills out of pocket. We have a savings account for things just like this, if we do need to pay. We put the money away for a safety net and yet, when we have to withdraw it, it makes us nervous. It isn’t our money, it is his. He will provide for us. I can’t say enough, I have no worry or stress through this. I sleep soundly every night. I realized I cried out in faith to him and he helped me before I could finish praying. I don’t have fear because I have Jesus.

I know you are experiencing storms. They come in all shapes and sizes. Please remember they will keep coming. We don’t live in a perfect world, but we can call out to the Creator at any given hour and ask him to help. He may quiet the storm, he may stop it, or he may walk out on water and meet you where you are at and help you walk across it. But whatever way he chooses, you will never walk alone. That is a promise! I feel so blessed to finally have answers and I pray the next storm on the horizon will strengthen you rather than knock you down. Because when we survive a storm, we realize, we come away stronger and closer to him and isn’t that all he wants anyway?