Storms

The winds picked-up, the pressure dropped, and the wall-shaking thunder rolled across the sky. The sirens screamed and our cell phones began ringing with warnings from family and friends to take shelter; there was a storm headed our way. We pulled up the radar map from our local news station’s app and the entire area was red. You almost never hear the actual name of our little municipality when these storms blow in because it’s so small and fairly insignificant compared to the surrounding towns, but there it was…and they were telling us to take shelter NOW.

It all sounds so dramatic…and, in a lot of ways it was…but do you want to know what happened in that basement as we waited for the storm to pass? First, we prayed for ourselves and others. Then, we just believed. We knew this was a serious situation, but we also knew that God has numbered our days and only He would decide whether today would be our last. We knew, if these were to be our last moments together here on this earth, we were going out trusting God and loving one another.

In those brief but intense moments after we prayed, we laughed—a lot. Crammed into a small space together, we touched without any protests of, “stop touching me!” There was actually something quite reassuring about all of us being so close together. The lights flickered, then they were gone. By flashlight, we looked into one another’s eyes with intention and we smiled and we talked about the most common things.

Some people may find these behaviors strange given the circumstances, but to us, it was representative of our faith in God to answer those prayers we prayed. If you believe God is going to answer your prayers, why would you do anything else? What purpose would screaming, crying, and huddling in a corner have? Faith and fear cannot coexist and so we had to choose one or the other to occupy that space with us…and we chose faith.

When it was all over, we ventured outside and discovered how completely God’s mercy had covered over us. He had protected us and all our loved ones, just as we prayed. Yes, we had a lot of clean-up work to do in the yard, but you know what…no one we prayed for was injured, not one window was broken, and not one limb fell on the house, garage, or our vehicles. While we were in the basement, we didn’t even realize a tornado had hit. We just thought it was a high-wind storm with tornado potential passing through. But according to the news, there was an EF-3 tornado that touched down right down the street…less than a half-mile from our house. You would think we would have known something so destructive raged just beyond our walls, but we honestly didn’t know until much later on.

Outside, surveying the damage, my husband marveled at the fact that there was ONE limb on a particular tree that didn’t get blown off. He noticed there was a squirrel’s nest in it. He shared how struck he was by the mercy that God showed those tiny little squirrels…and how much more He takes notice of us.

We were truly blessed, but I can’t help but wonder…what if it had all turned out differently? What then would our response have been? It was just a few days before that a tornado hit in Oklahoma,  killing eight children and several adults. I can’t even begin to understand why my family and I would be spared just days after so many lives came to such an unforeseeable end. Yet there are eight mommas in Oklahoma whose arms still feel very empty as they cry themselves to sleep every night and we are here. Does it make sense to our finite minds? Can we rationalize the justice in that?

No…I suppose we can’t. The thing is…we can’t always make sense of life’s storms. We just have to somehow trust the God we say we believe in and KNOW that, somewhere, He is in it. I’m sure that would sound shallow and even unfeeling to the mother of one of those dearly departed children, but please try to understand. I’m not trying to detract from the grief or the loss or the devastation or the seriousness of what happened. I’m just trying to say, even in the most painful storms, we must trust in Who God really is. We must know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God knows and that He cares.

I don’t know why God allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. I just know He does. And I know it’s hard to praise Him in the storm. It’s often even more difficult to praise Him in the aftermath of the storm when you’re standing in an open field with a shattered pieces of your life strewn all around you. But, the only relief we will ever find must be found in the arms of Christ. Nothing else will do. We can experience anger. We can experience a sense of loss. We can experience extreme sadness. But, in the end, Christ is our Healer and only He can fix the broken pieces. We must find a way to see Him–even in these things–even though they are outside of our own field of vision. We must find a way to somehow know, in the larger picture, it will all make sense one day…we just can’t see it from here. Our lives here on this Earth are kind of like looking at one of Monet’s paintings from six-inches away. It’s all so unclear…just a bunch of dots. But…back up and look at it from a distance and you can see that it’s a huge, beautiful canvas with unique and detailed beauty that all works together in harmony to create a timeless masterpiece.

God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah – Psalm 46:1-3 (HCSB)

And as we drove through our town in the daylight of the next morning, one image struck me deeper than any other. In a cemetery–full of death and loss and tear-soaked plots–trees were split and limbs laid on the ground…but there was one “tree” that withstood the storm. It was a wooden cross. In the midst of all the debris, the cross, the reminder of the sufferings of Christ…it stood strong to remind us that our Savior also suffered great pain. He endured loss and betrayal and mockery and even death so that we could be saved. Whatever we experience here on earth, it pales in comparison to what He went through…and He did it all for us. He did it all to provide us with a new life and a new hope for our future.

The fact is…we all want the victory, but we don’t want to bear the burden of the cross.

I don’t have answers to all the questions. I don’t have a magic phrase to help relieve your pain. However, I do have one thing…experience. Even though I was spared this storm, I’ve lived through many others that were far worse. I’ve endured heart-wrenching loss, unfathomable betrayal, and an inner brokenness that felt too deep for even God to heal. But through it all, I learned a few things that I KNOW to be true, and I pray that they can, in some way, help you…

1. No matter what we’re experiencing, we can rest assured that God has not forsaken us.
2. Prayer is most vital when you feel like you have trouble “feeling it,” and you can’t seem to find the words to pray.
3. There is no valley so low that He can’t reach down and pick us up. 
4. The Holy Spirit is our only true Comforter.
5. It is possible to fully experience joy again after a tragedy.
6. Our sufferings don’t even HAVE to make sense here on this earth. All we need to know is that the Lord records all our sorrows; He collects all our tears; and He keeps our feet from stumbling. If we love Him and are called according to His purposes, somehow, He will cause ALL things to work together for our good.   

The Protection of the Most High – Psalm 91 (HCSB)
1 The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”3 He Himself will deliver you from the hunter’s net, from the destructive plague.4 He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield. 5 You will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day, 6 the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon. 7 Though a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, the pestilence will not reach you. 8 You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord-my refuge, the Most High-your dwelling place,10 no harm will come to you; no plague will come near your tent. 11 For He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways. 12 They will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the young lion and the serpent.14 Because he is lovingly devoted to Me, I will deliver him; I will exalt him because he knows My name.15 When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor.16 I will satisfy him with a long life and show him My salvation.