Calm in the Storm

It was typical stormy night at our house- my husband, Marshall was glued to the television watching for any tornadic occurrence in our area and I was settled into bed sleeping soundly.  When he felt the reported tornado was close to our house he came  in and woke me up and moved me into the hall bath tub which he had prepared with numerous pillows and cushions.  I climbed into the tub with our little dog while Marshall ran back and forth from the front to the back door watching for the tornado.

Now, do not misunderstand, my heart breaks for those individuals that have suffered devastation and loss from a tornado and I am also appreciative that I have a husband who wants to protect me from harm, but I am confident that if I survive the tornado-he will most definitely not. He will certainly be blown away as he watches for it.   At that point I would have preferred to be sleeping comfortably in my bed instead of uncomfortable in that small tub.

I decided to make the most of it and settled into the pillows and soon drifted off to sleep.  Later, I awoke very  stiff and realized that had been asleep for quite some time!   Then I feared the worst, Marshall had been blown away!!  As I crawled out of the tub I began to call his name, quietly at first then a little louder.  Walking out of the bathroom and into the living room calling him, I was suddenly surprised at what I saw.  There was my husband sitting in his recliner with a rather sheepish look on his face.  That is when he said to me as if a hour had not passed, "What?"  Turns out, as I began to call his name, he realized that he had forgotten to get me out of the tub and decided to just sit and wait it out, in an attempt to postpone the inevitable unrighteous anger that I was sure to exhibit.    I stumbled back to bed demanding that next time that he allow me to  sleep through the storm in the comfort of my own bed!!

How do you handle storms in your life?  I don't mean the ones that you get a warning from the National Weather Service that they are approaching.  Instead, I mean the ones that pop up unannounced or with very little warning in our lives-sickness or death of a family member, martial difficulties, a wayward child, financial problems, loss of a job or  a dreaded diagnosis from the doctor.  The list could go on and on.  Some of these storms come on us with gale force winds and threaten to cause devastating damage in our lives. They can rock us physically, emotionally and spiritually.  We wish that we could just close our eyes and go to sleep and the trouble would be over, but to do so is impossible.

We have options of what we can do during these storms.  We can allow them to cause us to become bitter, afraid,  discouraged or defeated.   It is very easy to allow ourselves to be effected in these ways because sometimes the storm just doesn't seem to pass quickly enough.  Storms may last a brief period, but many storms last for years without seeming to relent.

The psalmist David found himself in a storm of gigantic proportions. David's own son, Absalom, led what seem to be a successful rebellion against him.  Many of those whom he considered loyal had forsaken him.  This was enough to make even the strongest  feel, discouraged, bitter or afraid.  It seemed that David was without help-but David knew better.  It is at this time he penned the words from Psalm 3.

"But you  are a shield around me, O Lord; 

You bestow glory on me and lift my head.

To the Lord I cry aloud and He answers me from his holy hill.

I lie down and sleep,

I wake again because the Lord sustains me."

David realized that it was God who was his shield.  Notice in this passage that David is not asking God to be his shield, instead he is speaking with complete confidence that God was his protector.  The circumstances in which David found himself were enough to make him hang his head in complete discouragement, but he found God to be the lifter of his head. 

Confidence in God allowed David to know that his prayers were being answered and  to rest in God even as  trouble was all around him.  He realized that with each new day it was the Lord, himself who sustained him.  In Hebrew the word "sustains" is samak and means supports.  Just as an individual who is sick or critically wounded may have to be on life support, when we are severely wounded by our circumstances, He is our "life support."   He can sustain us physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally when storms threaten to turn our world upside down and destroy everything we think we knew to be true.

We may find that He actually calms the storm around us.

"He stilled the storms to a whisper, the waves of the sea were hushed."  Psalm 107:28

Or He may allow the storm to rage and promise to be with us.

" Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where you go."  Joshua 1:9

May we find in our storms what the psalmist knew to be true.  He is indeed our sustainer, support and our anchor when we are tossed by the raging storms of our lives.  I want to close with the words from a song by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.

"When the world that I've been living in collapses at my feet
When my life is shattered and torn
Though I'm windswept and battered, I can cling to His cross
And find peace in the midst of the storm

There is peace in the midst of my storm-tossed life
Oh, there's an anchor, there's a rock to cast my faith upon
Jesus rides in my vessel, so I'll fear no alarm
He gives me peace in the midst of my storm!"