The Storm...

A few nights ago I was outside reading when a storm began to creep up. Living in the flat-lands, I was able to watch the storm slowly approach - I was very intrigued and oddly enough comforted. I could feel God's presence.

I sat there silently watching the storm as it got closer and closer. I saw the lightening in the clouds a short distance north and watched in awe. Eventually the storm was on top of me (not literally, but you get the idea). The wind was incredibly refreshing and it was not yet raining. As I stood there being amazed at the weather phenomenon I felt God saying to me, this is like life. The storm will come but you can stand strong in it with Me by your side. I will protect you and the storm will pass. The rain will allow things to grow again and you will be stronger. Lightening will strike, thunder will roar, winds will rage, and rain will fall but I will protect you from it all.

As I heard this I was amazed and at peace. It was and is so true - God will carry me and is carrying me through the storms of life. I can watch them slowly come (although sometimes we don't see them coming) and then watch as they slowly pass over and we are refreshed by the wind and rain.

Just before the rain began, I could see the sunset peeking through the storm. It was absolutely gorgeous. You know that pinkish-orange color of beautiful sunsets, I could see it shining through the dark luminous clouds in certain places. It was awesome. God was saying, "Look, even in the midst of the storm there is beauty. The beauty may not be there the entire time, as the color did diminish in time, but I will give the hope to persevere." I love sunsets, they are astounding and seeing this through the storm was so amazing!

Sadly, as it began to rain I went inside. It was sad because it was as if I had a lack of faith to trust God and stay in the storm - I chickened out (I didn't want my book to get wet -rolls eyes). I say this because I thought it was going to be a downpour. I stayed outside as it lightly drizzled but at the first sign of the rain getting heavier, I bailed. When I went inside it rained a little harder but not very hard at all and then very shortly after that, the rain stopped. Had I just had enough faith to stand in the storm the rain would have been pleasantly refreshing I'm sure.

This showed me how we often times don't stand with God in the midst of the storms. We don't have enough faith in Him so we chicken out and do it our own way - thinking that it would be better or that we'd get faster results. Instead, all we get is disappointments and missed opportunities. As Jesus says numerous times in the Bible, "Oh, ye of little faith."

I'm tired of having a weak faith. I want to have a strong faith. Is faith just a matter of choice? Choosing God over ourselves? It should be so simple, so why is it often so hard?