I imagine we are all like this. Who wants to be a part of something that steals our peace of mind and changes our plans? Personally, I have experienced many personal storms. To be so young, I have been through a lot, and I am sure I will continue to experience storms as long as I live. It's just the way life is. If life was perfect, with no storms, then it would be Heaven. And as we all know, this isn't Heaven. But as is true with thunderstorms, some personal storms are bigger than others. And some storms cause more damage than others.
For the longest time, I couldn't understand why God would allow something so horrific to happen to me. Why wouldn't He intervene and change my circumstances? If He wanted to, He could snap His fingers and my hurricane would be over. But He didn't. And I struggled greatly to understand why I was experiencing the biggest storm I had ever seen.
As the years slowly went by, I began to notice something. My situation wasn't changing, but I was. I was still living through a colossal storm that was destroying my finances and stealing my independence, but the storm was no longer destroying me. The sins that used to control me were having less power over me. I began to lose the need to be in control of every detail of my life. I began to stop worrying so much and trusting God to take care of my needs. My fears that used to haunt me were no longer there. And the small faith that I had in God began to grow exponentially.
As I began to realize that God was indeed changing me through my storm, I began to think about thunderstorms, and I remembered something. The day after a thunderstorm, the sky is gorgeous. There's never a cloud in the sky, and the blue is the prettiest blue you'll ever see. And the bigger the storm is, the prettier the sky will be. The reason for this is because the storm removes all of the impurities in the atmosphere, and what's left is the sky the way God intended it to be. Storms aren't always fun, but they are necessary. They remove the impurities from our heart, and make us whole, so that when the storm is over, what's left is the person God intended for us to be.
More times than not, we are so upset that we are having to live through a storm we forget that God has a purpose in our suffering. I know I am guilty of doing this. But if we remember that God is in control and He has a plan for us, we will find ourselves making it through the storm whole and with our faith strengthened. Knowing this, makes it all the sweeter when we make it to the other side of the storm.
"Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity He put us in right standing with Himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ." ~ Romans 3:23-24 (The Message)
(c) January 18, 2012