Storms and faith...

God is good...He is great...He is amazing...He rocks!

It's amazing the things that people, even as Christians, have to go through. I think sometimes, we decide that because we follow Christ, we are exempt from trials and struggles. We think if we pray enough, read our Bible enough, fast enough, be a "good enough" Christian, and seek enough, that our lives will be "easy breezy". Well, I tend to think that sometimes at least.

This week, as I've listened to Christian radio programs, I've heard 3 or 4 programs on trials and faith that really spoke to me. Not the kind of faith knowing the sun will come up every day, but the heart-wrenching, "my world feels like it's falling apart" kind of faith.

The kind of faith that when a storm hits your life, you cling onto for dear life for fear of being swept away by the ferocious and raging winds.

The kind of faith that you depend on the finances of heaven because you can't pay your mortgage, or you lose your "stable" job, and can't pay the thousands of dollars in hospital bills when illness and disease smashes against your family's health.

The kind of faith that causes you to crawl up, like a small, scared child, on the lap of your Heavenly Father because you just found out that you or your child has been diagnosed with cancer or a terminal illness.

The kind of faith that brings you to your knees when God tells you to take off your wedding ring because your marriage will never be restored.

"God, what if I become a 'better' person? Then, will you remove or fix this storm?"

One of the speakers I heard this week said, "For every person that gets cancer, God will also allow a Christian to get cancer, so that the world can see the difference of going through cancer with God, and going through cancer without God." It made me really think. God doesn't cause bad things to happen, but He does allow them because He's still in control, and His plans for our lives are much bigger than what we can ever comprehend!"

As I went through my life experiences, I found comfort in the "why's", and became aware of the striving I do to be a "better" person in hopes to "escape" some of the storms in my life.

What if God chooses not to ever take my child's emotional issues from him? Will I still trust God for his future?

What if God never, ever allows me to re-marry my ex-husband, or never provides me with another husband? Will I still trust God to be my companion, provide for me, and still choose to find joy in the midst of it?

What if God never ___(your dream here)___? Will you still call him Lord? Will you still allow Him to direct your steps? Will you follow even though you may never get the answers to the "why's"? Will you trust that He knows the plan for your future, and that it is filled with hope, not harm? Will you bow and say, "Yes, Lord", even though your heart wants to stand and scream, "wwwhhhhyyyyyy?"

In Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus is walking on the water and the disciples think He is a ghost. This is what Jesus says:
27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

29"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!"

31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

Notice that the wind was blowing when Jesus asked Peter to walk on the water. While Peter was on the water, the wind was still blowing. While Peter became afraid and began to sink, the Lord reached out his hand and caught him, YET the wind was still blowing. Did you notice that it must have been a ferocious wind for Peter to become afraid? Yet, did you notice that the wind continued to rage even once Peter was in Jesus' grasp? Did you notice that Jesus didn't "freak" out at all during that episode? He wasn't even surprised that Peter would begin to sink because He was IMMEDIATELY ready to catch Peter.

God is ready to catch you too as the (or when the) storms rage around you. God doesn't always take our storms from us, but He does reach out and surround us during them. For every non-believer that suffers through something in life, so also, will a Christian suffer in that same thing, so that Christ's comfort and peace can radiate rays of light to the world around us.

The next time a "storm" rages in your life, I pray you will be more willing to say, "Yes Lord, here I am, use me."

Jeremiah 29:11-12 (New International Version)

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me, and you will come and pray to me, and I will listen to you."