Everyone has things that are happening in their life as we speak. Things that come from out of nowhere and blindside you when you least expect it. It seems to me that at any point in time, especially when things are going really well, a storm can creep up and cause havoc in the life of any believer. I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday and he looked tired and beat down like he had been thinking really hard and hadn't gotten much sleep lately. He told me that he has just been going through TOO much lately. It's like once things start happening it seems like it will never end. It's one thing after another and you never get any rest like being held under water and every time you come up to gasp for air you get pushed under again. Now what do you say when someone says something like that to you? I mean his mom just died 2-3 weeks ago, it's been tough at work and then he gets into an accident in a work truck and has everybody breathing down his neck about that every morning. He has no rest from the trouble that is surrounding him on all sides and all he really wants is to mourn his mothers death, pick up the pieces and move on. I am a firm believer that God puts people in your life for a reason. He will cause you to cross paths with someone He wants you to speak a word of encouragement to in their time of need. You have to keep your eyes open at all times and be aware of what's going on around you to not miss these "divine appointments" as I have heard them called before. You will meet someone at Starbucks who needs a word of encouragement or someone you work with or a friend or family member who needs to talk and get some good Godly counsel. It's something that as you mature as a follower of Christ you begin to see happening all around you; you can think of them as tests from the Father to see what you will do. He is trusting you to be His ambassador in this world and He sends you people to speak through you to them when they need to hear Gods voice. It's really an unbelievable honor and privileged to be counted worthy for God to speak through you; it's also a major responsibility because you want to give them the right info and what they need to hear to turn to God and ask Him for help. You want to "deflect" their trouble and their pain to God so He can do a work in their heart and begin to change them from the inside out. My job as a follower of Jesus is to have the answers stashed in my heart so that they can come out at the right time; Gods words stored in my heart and mind so that when He sends someone to me I will be able to pull those words out for them to hear at the right time to make them see that they need to turn to God for help and forgiveness. That's why it is so important to read your bible and study the word of God so you can have His words stored in your heart to be given away when someone needs them. It's all about giving in the family of God and to give the words of our Lord to someone in need to help them turn to God and ask for His help is our job and responsibility as a Christian.
When the storms of this life blow in they come with a vengeance and they can be relentless sometimes. It seems that it's just one thing after another and you never have any rest to get ready for the next storm. Storms can drain you of your energy, make you lose focus and passion and get your eyes off God and onto your surroundings and circumstances which is exactly what the devil wants to happen. He brings things upon you to try to tear you down and make you afraid; he uses fear and suffering to get your mind off God and makes you worry about how you are going to get through the storm. You can think of the time that Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water and Peter asked for Jesus to call him to Himself and let him walk on water too. Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water towards Jesus as he was walking he had his eyes fixed on Jesus. It's when Peter started looking around at the waves and the storm that he started to sink because he took his eyes off Jesus; he lost his focus on God and started focusing on his circumstances. The point of this story is that if you focus on Jesus you can walk on water and get through any storm that this life throws at you but if you take your eyes off God and start worrying about your circumstances you can sink and fall into the trap of the devil. Sometimes the storms in our lives are almost too big for us to survive we think. Like my friend I was telling you about. Life seems to be choking you to death, it has you on your knees gasping for breath and you don't know how you are going to make it through the day much less how you will ever get through and survive the week or the month. This is where being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ and the one and only Living God gives you the advantage that nobody else in the world or any other religion has. You have the assurance and promise from God that He will never leave you or forsake you. He will always be there with you and He is leading you through the "Valley of the Shadow of Death" but He tells you that you should "Fear no Evil because He is with you." God will never take you through a valley that you can't make it through and He will never leave you in the valley. God is always leading you and He won't forget you or leave you somewhere in your pain; He can see the big picture and He knows where you are headed. He has a purpose for the vally that you are walking through to strengthen you and grow your faith if you will just keep your eyes on Him and trust Him to lead you out of the valley and up the mountain where you will be able to look back on where you just came from and see what you learned along the way. That's how faith is produced and how it matures, trusting God in your times of need and when life looks hopeless. Nobody likes to go through the valley but that is how you grow and everybody has something that they are going through. Once you come out of the valley and realize that you are still alive and stronger than ever you will now be equiped to help your friend who has just stepped into the valley after you; and the cycle continues.
My friends, storms are inevitable on the sea of life; they will come and go big and small ones for the rest of your life. It's not the fact that you survived the storm that is important because as they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and that's the truth; it's your faith that grows from trusting your God through it all that is what it's all about. Like a refiners fire got makes you go through the storms of life to mold you into the person that He has planned for you to be so you can accomplish the things that God has destined you to do. You have to go through the Valley's to be able to appreciate the Mountaintops. When you trust in God to save you in the midst your storms I can't tell you that the storms will cease but you will be able to have peace and hope that everything will be ok and that God is with you. And if God is with you who can be against you? Have faith, take heart my brothers and sisters because this life is like a vapor in the wind and it's just the dress rehearsal for the real show in heaven. Think about that the next time the storm blows in; look to God and tell Him you're ready...
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