Praise You in this Storm

Why do we call our troubles storms? Well, we have to start by first defining the word storm.

Webster says in the noun form a storm is a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lighting, or snow.  As a verb storm means to move angrily or forcefully in a specified direction.

It’s starting to make a lot of sense why we compare hardships in life to a storm. The worse the problems the worse the type of storm we compare it to.

Some of the biggies we compare to storms can include finances, relationships, medical issues, struggles with our own self- image, and parenting. These are just a few in the big scheme of things but some of the most crucial and influential aspects of our lives.

We are an atmosphere. Our lives are a delicate balance of good and evil that if not properly taken care of can smash together and create hurricanes that will tear down our self validation, relationships, or just throw off our daily routines which can cause insanity in itself.

How can we allow God to come in and set us free from the burden? Let’s look at some scripture.

ISAIAH 40:1 – “Comfort, yes, Comfort My People!” Says your God.

This verse is short but very powerful.

 First, Comfort, this word means to give strength. It’s not just a word that means to hug when someone is crying it can but in encouragement, love and hope comes God's STRENGTH that he blesses us with! Have you ever thought of it that way? If you haven’t, next time you see someone struggling comfort them because it gives them a little bit of your God given strength so they can keep going during the times they need help reclaiming God's gift of strength to them.

Second, the exclamation point is an important part of this scripture. Punctuation is always important on how to get a point across. God is shouting and exclaiming to His people that they will be comforted. He is promising s comfort. I don’t know about you but when someone shouts something in zealousness and hope I tend to listen then if they just whisper but he PROCLAIMED His promise of Comfort and gave His people hope and still does.

Third and the most important, “Says your God.” This should have been my first point but I was going in order of the verse. “Says your God.” The word YOUR should stand out to you because it doesn’t just say God. It states “your God.” He is our living Savior and we are His children. He is a personal Lord and He shows us that in His word.

Now, what do we have to do to earn this Comfort? This is going to blow your mind NOTHING. As God’s children when we accept Him into our hearts all that he has promised His people we begin to receive.

Does this mean we should do nothing? Absolutely not! We are led to service. We should want to do our part to help others come to know the blessings of standing on the promises of God.

Now, this blog didn’t come from thin air. It was placed on my heart because of where I am at this moment and how I am coming to understand the struggles that we face.  From July 5^ththru July 11^th the devil was using me as a personal punching bag or so it felt. I left Breaux Bridge feeling defeated from the week, persecuted as a Christian from the people closest to me and just physically and mentally exhausted. Have you ever been there? Sure you have and I am sure I will have the worst week ever again. Storms are inevitable but instead of waiting until I was washed away in the storm to ask the Lord for help i asked Him for help from the beginning.  God is blessing me and filling my soul as we speak. He tells us in James 4:7 that if we continue to resist the devil, then he must flee. He held up his part of that bargain because I am at Clear Camp with the youth consumed in His love. We are worshiping His greatness, praying for His mercy and spirit to move through these kids and studying His truth. I am utterly amazed at His grace and all my storms have calmed and I am allowing Him to work in my life so that I may work in others.

Something I am learning is that God is in the details. We need to invite Him into our every moment and allow Him to have control from the beginning and things won’t spiral out of control; so that our lives become shipwrecked rather we might just have a torn sail that needs a quick stitch to repair.

So finishing up this message, I will say I continue to praise my Lord and Savior through the good, the bad and the ugliest storms because if they can get that tough with Him in my life, I can’t imagine what they look like without Him.

After the darkest storms, come the brightest rainbows.

Your Sister in Christ