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Storms

Howling wind, beating rain, boisterous thunder...awakened at 3 a.m.  Bright, flashes of lightening penetrated my bedroom as rolling thunder rattled the windows.  I peered through the blinds with sleepy eyes trying to focus on the images illuminated by the dance of lights in the heavens.  The lamp posts made obsolete by the bolts of electricity ripping through the night sky, the stars hidden, the moon nowhere to be found.  Water cascaded across the barren parking lot like ocean waves with no apparent beginning and no ending in sight. 

As I groggily returned to my bed, I began mentally perusing the rooms of our small apartment wondering which place would be the safest should the predicted tornado come our way.  My two small children were tucked away in their snug beds not even aroused by the violent tempest parading outside their window. I, however, very much aware and now very much awake, decided either of the closets in their room would likely be the best place to take cover.  At that moment, I was grateful I had begun spring cleaning the week before, so there would be plenty of room for the three of us.

As I sat down to blog this morning, the storm of last eve was still on my mind.  I began thinking of the mass destruction, utter confusion, deafening violence, and the fierce winds that can come with storms.  I likened those things to the trials we face in our natural and spiritual lives.  Waves of problems that seem to have no beginning and no ending, confusion and stress that hit like strong winds that just might blow us over.  We want to run for safety.  We search for a place to hide.  Then, my mind goes to the closet.  A quiet place with no distraction...our prayer closet.  Run to our Refuge, our Strong Tower.  David wrote in Psalm 107:29 "He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed."

I ran across a scripture in Job that struck me almost as intensely as the incandescent lightening of last night.  Job 38:1 (NIV), "Then, the Lord answered Job out of the storm..."  Even in the storm, the Lord speaks.  Even when we are surrounded by turmoil, confusion, and disaster, the Lord speaks.  We must find those quiet times in our prayer closet so we can clearly hear just what He is saying to us.  If only we could be like my sleeping babies and be so tucked away in Him, we would not be aroused by the storms raging around us.  Rest in His arms and hear what He has to say to the storm.  After all, "...even the wind and the waves obey Him." (Matthew 8:27)

For me, the morning was my answer.  I awoke to birds singing and one of my sweet girls nestled up close.  My answer was..."and this too shall pass.  Joy comes in the morning."

"...knowing clouds will rage and storms will race in. but you will be safe in my arms.  Rains will pour down.  Waves will crash around, but you will be safe in my arms." ~Plumb

Proverbs 10:25 "When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever."

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