storms

"Very often the storm ceases as soon as you quit and crawl back into a place of security." Joyce Meyer

So true. So comforting. So discouraging. Yes - our intent is often to calm, or altogether stop, the raging storm around and within us. When we do this, however, are we growing? Are we being stretched? Are we allowing the Lord to mold us? Most likely not.

Days can be rough. Weeks can be rough. Seasons can be rough. Why, you ask, must life work this way? Because we have an adversary who is not thrilled with our devotion and perseverance in the Lord. This has become very real to me over the past year. The Lord was drawing me closer to Himself, yet every step I took seemed to be filled with pain, questioning, and heartache. My first reaction? To run of course. To hide in the safest, most secure place I could think of - the familiar surroundings of my life before I decided to pursue God more fervently. Guess what happened? The storms stopped - the pain, questioning, and heartache subsided. Know why? Because I was no longer deemed a threat on the spiritual level. I was satisfied to be a lukewarm Christian in a mediocre spiritual environment.

And that was what I wanted - to be without storms. Not to be lukewarm or mediocre, but to be in less painful and troubling times. I didn't realize that I was merely stepping back, and in essence, paving the way for the devil's road. He had me where he wanted me - in a box. I didn't want to leave what I knew; I didn't want to venture into the unknown because it may be hard, painful, even require sacrifice.

Ouch. I found the problem. I wasn't ready, or willing I suppose, to sacrifice what I thought was mine. I didn't want to give up my time, my money, my possessions. I wasn't thrilled with having to surrender my family, my friends, and my dreams. It hurt, and whenever it hurt, I ran. I ran back to a safe place.

But not over this past year - the Lord was slowly working in me, slowly molding me, slowly drawing me closer to Himself. And the storms came. They came in the form of a Wiccan roommate and of a pre-term child. They came hard and they came strong. They raged for longer than I would have liked. In the wake of the storms, however, there was a new light - the light of life. A new life; a brighter life; a fervent life. And it was good.

Yes - storms will rage, and if we run from them they will cease. It is much wiser, however, to allow the Lord to carry us through the storms. He is faithful like that and we grow closer to Him when He is the only stronghold in our life.