In the eye of the storm

I want you to think for a second. Clear your mind, and just think. Think back on the last spiritual storm you encountered in your life. Maybe you’re going through something right now. Just focus on the most recent storm you went through. How did you feel in the midst of that storm? Did you feel lost, or alone, maybe even afraid?

We all encounter storms in our lives. Whether it be something as small as a light rain, or as big as a tornado, to speak metaphorically, storms happen all the time, and can pop up at any moment.

Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” –Matthew 8:23-27

I think we can sometimes relate the disciples when we’re going through hard times. We feel chaos all around us, we’re frantic, questioning why we may be experiencing this. To put it simply, we feel lost at sea in a way, just like the disciples.

I know this is something I experienced recently. Back around March and April of this year, I had a lot going on in my life. In those two short months, my dog passed away while I was at school, and my mom found a lump in her breast. And I was stuck at school, struggling to push forward to the end of the semester. The hardest part was my mom. She went through weeks of tests and scans to try and figure out what was going on with her. It was hard. I couldn’t come home from college to be with her either, so my only option was to support her from a hundred miles away.

She finally went in for one last test, one last test that we prayed would give us answers. And I was scared. At this point, I was sure I knew what the answer was. I thought my mom had cancer. I remember crying, literally crying to God, begging for Him to heal my mom, to let the lump not be cancer. All I could think was “Why me? Why my family?” It was hard, and even harder on my mom.

We finally got the results from the test back in late April. I remember calling my mom right after her appointment, bracing myself for the heartbreaking news. She answered, and I heard complete joy on the other end of the phone. “It’s not cancer,” she told me. “It’s not cancer.” Then she told me something else. The doctors were preparing themselves to tell my mom that she had stage 4 breast cancer. Let me reiterate that. Doctors believed that my mom had stage 4 breast cancer–even they were surprised when the results came back negative.

I cried tears of joy as soon as she told me. I knew in that moment that God healed my mom. God was with my family in that time and healed her. There is no other explanation.

While not every story is like mine, I still think it can be applied to the storms you may be going through. In the storms we encounter in our lives, we are called to find shelter in God just like we find shelter in actual storms. If we cast our burdens on Him, He will guide us through them, as long as we lean on the Lord.

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. While God is not the one who gives us the hard times in our lives, I believe He uses them to help us grow. Now, I’m not saying that He makes it easier on us. I’m saying that if we lean on God through our troubles, He will help guide us to the other side, and we will come out stronger. I know that can be hard to believe at times. When we’re in the middle of the storm, we panic, we lose our footing and we feel desperate. That’s how the disciples were in Matthew. They panicked, and cried for help, unsure if they were going to be safe, but Jesus was with them the entire time.

All this talk on storms reminds me of this song that I listen to sometimes. It’s called Eye of the Storm by Ryan Stevenson. I encourage you to listen to it if you haven’t yet.  The chorus reads: “In the eye of the storm, you remain in control. In the middle of the war, you guard my soul. You alone are the anchor when my sails are torn. Your love surrounds me in the eye of the storm.”

Even in the midst of chaos, even when we feel lost at sea, God is always with us. Even when we lose sight of Him, He will never, ever leave us. He is our rock, our cornerstone, the one who we can lean on and find shelter in when life is chaos.

Have you ever gone through a storm before where you had to lean on God? I would love to hear your story! Leave a comment or send me a message!