Facing the storm...

Facing the storm...

Danielle Joyner Kelley

March 29, 2009

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17.

Often I try to write notes from my own mind, but I am thankfully surrounded by so many wonderful people who are teaching me so much right now that I have to share certain "Ah Ha" moments. The scripture above, as short as it is word wise, encompasses just about my entire belief system right now. This morning I had a true "Ah Ha" moment that I though I would share. Tim Ireland, a visiting pastor this morning at Canopy Roads, helped us to understand what it means to have God truly in control of everything, both good and bad. The Pastor of our church, Matt Hall, has discussed this subject repeatedly, and after much repetition it has finally started to sink in.

Days ago, I wrote a note called, "He is calling..." which talked about how God calls us to do things that we may or may not want to do. That message meant a lot to me, as someone who has fought for years to have exactly what she wants. Today's message was also clear, and now I know that when it is so hard for me to get out of the boat, even if it is something I may not want to do, I am not alone in doing it.

When God calls me to do something, what I failed to realize is that He is so loving, He would never ask me to be alone. He is asking me to trust in Him because He plans to be with me every step of the way. So many things happen that we can never explain and that make absolutely no sense, but He is guiding us.

This morning the message talked about the storms we face in our own life situations (Mark 4:35-41). God is not caught by surprise during a storm in your life, and He is in control no matter what. You are always to remember who is in the boat with you.

One of the messages from the story was, "Many people profess trust in Jesus' power over the storms of life but fall short of demonstrating the trust when the storm comes." So true, we can preach to others how their trust and faith should be, but where are we when we are in the situation of dealing with a storm in our own lives? We cry out and scream, "Why me, why now?". Where is our faith then? The answer to that is up to you.

God never tells us that things will be easy, or that there will not be any storms. So many stories in the Bible demonstrate this. However, He does tell us that He will get us through that storm if and only if we come to Him.

Every bad thing that happens to you is a chance for you to come to Him and grow your faith. I used to be the most negative / glass half-empty person and those who know me will not believe it is me saying this, but it is absolutely true.

It is so easy to thank Him for the good times in our life. When things get bad we tend to argue. But coming to Him during the bad times teaches you to appreciate the good. How often have you thanked Him for the good times and turned away from Him in the bad? That is exactly when you try to step in and "fix" everything yourself.

Think of it this way. When you have a million friends and things are going great, how many of them are really, truly 100% special to you? When you go through a bad time, for example such as divorce, how many times do you single out one or two of those friends to praise, and tell everyone, "I love her. She was always there for me through my divorce". How much do you appreciate that friend that was there for you through your hard time? You will always look at them differently, and hold them to a higher standard.

God doesn't work any differently with you. During those bad times, when you come to Him, you allow Him to work in your life and show His appreciation for you. Coming to Him also allows you to make things easier on yourself. God knows all your storms before they happen and He knows the purpose they serve to make you better. And you will not, no matter what you do, change His plans. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21. You can come to Him and have comfort and peace through a bad time, or you can go through it kicking and screaming, but the end result will be the same.

Whenever you do something wrong and Satan seizes the opportunity to tell you how horrible you are and make you feel so guilty, you need to seize the opportunity also. Learn to defeat Satan by coming to God. It is not what you say, it is what you do during the bad times. Do you use the word faith as just some concept that you like to say aloud? Or do you really truly try to have faith? Faith is something we do, not something we say. Are you thinking of helping others besides yourself? What about those around you? You aren't in the boat alone, so stop living as if you are - He is there. When it comes to trying to have faith, He knows if you are using everything you have to grow it. He knows your every move and know this - he knows the every move of the storm that is hurting you right now too, and He is prepared to help you - you just have to let Him.

So know God is in control of both the good and the bad. Thank Him for what you have in your life, and tell Him you know He is with you through all of the bad. He is always holding you and building you for greatness, but you have to allow Him to work. I cannot even begin to illustrate how He will work on a computer, but if you would see the changes He could make for yourself you would truly be amazed. Those are not just words, as I said that having "faith" should not just be a concept, it is real. The trick is that you have to work for it and realize it for yourself.

Like the scripture says, He has to be before all things in your life - He has to be the focus. You have to know that He is doing what is in your best interests and the interests of those you love. Trust in Him.

What better captain for your own ship than the one who built it Himself by His own hands?