Perhaps you find yourself watching the storm clouds gather in the distance, or maybe you feel yourself swirling in the center of a storm. Or perhaps a storm has come and gone and you are picking up the pieces of your life. God often speaks to us through the storms in our lives.
Instead of becoming a storm-chaser, we should become a God-chaser...recgonizing that, if we listen, even in the midst of the most violent storm we can still detect the still small voice of God, calling us to greater faith in Him.
Jonah 1:15-16
"Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him."
We don't cry out to God while we are sailing on sunny seas. When a storm hits, we cry out, even beg, God to show His power in our situation. God uses storms in our lives to cause us and those around us to cry out to Him. We throw ourselves at the mercy of the only source of hope. When we cry out, He bends down to listen.
Mark 4:37-38
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Having God with us makes all the difference. No matter what storms swirl around us, we know that God cares for us because He is with us in the storm...seeking peace. Sometimes we become so afraid that our boat is sinking that we forget that God's presence in with us and that He makes all the difference. We have to have faith to believe in Him and seek rest in Him.
Matthew 14:29-30
“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Jesus walks toward us in our distress, urging us not to be afraid. Sometimes, we have to have to just get out of the boat and trust Him. Storms give us the opportunity to step out on faith. We can look down and be overtaken or we can look up at the Savior. As we focus on Him, He provides what we need to keep walking towards Him when the storms are around us.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."
Many of us have sang the song "The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock", but have we ever really thought about the wise man and the foolish man? Both men have many things in common. Both of them heard God's Word. Both of them experienced the storm. The floodwaters came upon both. However, the wise man's house didn't collapse because it was built on the rock, while the foolish man's house collapsed because it was built in the sand.
The wise person not only hears God's word, he "puts them in to practice". The foolish man hears the word and then ignores it. It was as if he thought that going to church was enough, and he didn't allow God's word to change him, shape him, strengthen him, and prepare him for the storm.
If a storm comes today, are you ready to survive on the rock or will you come crashing down in the sand?
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