Navigating Through Life's Storms

Turbulence during flight can be very unsettling, even for a seasoned flyer. A storm bounces the huge aircraft around like a toy in the paws of a giant cat. The passengers’ utter lack of control or ability to do anything to ease the problem is most evident.
During such times, we often pray that the storm will end quickly. Sometimes, it does end quickly, but turbulence reoccurs throughout the flight. Life is often like that. When we find ourselves in stormy circumstances, we often pray to the Lord to resolve the threatening circumstance.
We sit in horror as life’s storms rage around us. We may be hit by a vicious personal attack. We may be slammed by a serious illness, or the death of a loved one. We may find ourselves deep in debt, with no end in sight. We watch in horror as the economy, or a marriage slides into the abyss, and, along with them, hopes and dreams. Our faith is shaken
We pray for God’s deliverance, but, as an old saying goes, “Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes, He lets the storm rage, and calms His child.” Even today, evil seems to prevail everywhere, and evildoers seem to flourish and prosper. We are emotionally flung from side to side, and sometimes just feel like giving up.
Blasphemy has risen to the level of a sport. God’s laws are deliberately and blatantly violated. Many have declared Him to be dead or useless. Movies and TV shows mock God, and His moral absolutes and guidelines for life have been cast out of schools and the public square. Even some churches have abandoned God’s clear and written tenants for a more ‘politically correct’ (but morally wrong), ‘tolerant’ and exciting style of worship.
Christians who attempt to take a stand for what is right according to God’s word are castigated, ridiculed and minimized with labels such as ‘bigot’ or ‘religious fanatic’. Even in the face of such storms, believers in the True God need not despair. We must ‘put on the whole armor of God’ and bravely faces every storm that comes into our lives.

This is done through reading the word, prayer and waiting on the Lord, as He tells us to do. But, waiting on the Lord does not mean to hide under our beds and tremble in the face of such attacks. We are to go boldly and proclaim His love and His commandments to others. When God is attacked in the news, sit down and write a letter to the editor, using Scripture to back up your position. Go to school board meetings and take a stand for morals and for God’s perspective as a part of the school experience.
God wants His stand and speak out against evil and the flouting of His laws. He also knows that the vicious storms in life can be daunting. Still, He wants us to stand in the gap between right and wrong. But, He also lets us know that the battle is His, and that He has already written the final chapter. He reassures of this in Psalms, “Be still, and know that I am God”. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.”
So, when you face life’s storms, as you certainly will, trust in the Lord. He may not calm the storm, but He will give you the grace and peace to endure it. When you are hit by the hardest times or by despair and hopelessness, God wants you to pray and picture yourself being rocked in His arms, as, by His grace, the storm subsides.

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com