A Shelter in the Time of Storm

As long as I can remember, I have loved stormy days.  

Stormy skies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I love seeing the sky fill up with rolling masses of bubbling clouds.  I love it when the clouds have all colors of blue and grey and white combined. 

 I love to see and hear and smell the rain as it falls.  I love the soft misty rain, the gentle rainfall and especially the hard pelting rain.

I love the swirling wind that comes with the stormy weather. (I don’t like the howling wind of hurricanes, but that’s another story for another day.) I love feeling the wind push me along, throwing my hair in all directions and making my dress flit and fly.

I love listening to the sound of thunder, especially when it is in the distance.  I love the deep resonance of the sound, its vastness and greatness.  Even the crack of lightning is exciting – if it isn’t too close!

Last night as I was listening to the rain fall outside and the thunder roll in the distance, I began to ponder why I enjoy stormy weather.  We were just settling into bed, and the answer came to me.  I love stormy weather because it so emphasizes being safe inside.

If I were standing out in the stormy weather with no hope of a safe haven, I would dread the gray clouds and rolls of thunder.  Even if we were out on the river kayaking, the sight of a dark cloud or the peal of thunder would be enough to send us paddling fervently for our put in.  

The thing that makes the storm enjoyable is the safety of the home.

Is that not like our Lord?  We no longer have to fear the storms that may assail us when we can rest safe in the Rock that calms the storms with His very words.   There are no winds which can reach into the cleft of the Rock where our Lord has hidden us.  Indeed, He has hidden us within His very self.

It is true the winds may pull at our outer shell, we may feel the wind on our human frame, our emotions may feel the tug of the storm.  But our spirits, if we have come to know the Lord Jesus, are joined to His spirit.  Because of that we can know the peace and safety, the calm and rest the Lord Jesus knew in the bottom of the boat when His disciples thought they were perishing in the winds.

Whatever storm blows at your house today – as Paul said, "without were fightings, within were fears" —whatever the storm, you can know peace and rest and safety because Christ is your Peace.  He is your Rest and safety is of the Him.

There is nothing that has happened, is happening or will happen in your life that has taken or will take Him by surprise or that is bigger than His ability to work it for good in your life.  He is that Rock to which we can cling, in which we are eternally hidden.

So when the storms of our lives come, let us not look at the wind, at the rain and the lightning, let us look to “Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith,” the One who calmed the storms of the seas and who is our calm and peace in the midst of any storm we can face in our lives.