Friday, February 17, 2012

Through The Storm To The Shore

When you are trying to swim in the largest storm of your life know that God is there. He sees you struggling, He sees you trying to conquer the large waves and He knows you long for safety on the shore. While you are swimming and the waves keep coming over you, remember it’s not about what you can do alone in the storm. It’s about reaching out to the Lord. You are in the storm for a reason, and many times the only way out is to realize you cannot rescue yourself.
If the problem-baring storm was about our ability to save ourselves, then why would we end up in the storm in the first place? Couldn’t we fix everything ourselves before we got there? If the storm was about our ability to save ourselves then we would never put ourselves in the storm in the first place.
When we aren’t able to fix our storms, when a floatation ring doesn’t exist we immediately blame our circumstances, our close relationships, or the unfair ways of the world for the reasons things didn’t work out. We somehow manage to tell ourselves the lie that these are the cards we have been dealt and we must deal with them. Since we can’t fix it, we push blame elsewhere and then try to live with the lie that we have to live with the debris from the storm.
Can I challenge you with one idea? That perhaps it’s not the world, it’s not the people in our lives, that perhaps the reason we are struggling is because the storm is about us. That we cannot be our own heroes, that we are not strong enough or wise enough to solve the harsh storms that we face.  That no matter how much blame is pushed on others that it’s not about other peoples inabilities, or how they have failed us.
The reason why we are in the storm is because we need to understand that our weakness is a reminder of our dependency for the one that created us.
You are not in the storm for you to save yourself or for another person to save you. You are in the storm so you can clearly see your Savior.
 Getting through the storm to the shore simply starts with Jesus.
He will take you out of your storm, heal you and surround you with love. Don’t fight the waves any longer, instead give it all to Jesus and He will calm the waves around you so you can land softy on the shore.
Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
 He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
 Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
Psalm 107:28-30

You are fearfully and wonderfully made
(Psalm 139:14)
Melissa