“He rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet down!’ Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. And He asked them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still not have faith in me?’” Mark 4:39-40

Traffic slowed to a crawl on the interstate as the ominous looking clouds unloaded a torrent of rain. Visibility through my windshield was low even though my wipers were doing their best to keep up with the downpour. The lightning periodically lit up the sky for brief moments which helped me see the road signs. “This just figures,” I thought. “I have been planning all week to work up the soil around the house we recently moved into so I could plant flowers, and now it will be too muddy!” Disgruntled, I finished the drive home and was grateful to finally reach the dryness of the garage.

After the storm had passed, the sun reappeared for a short time before dusk. I went out to survey the aftermath and examine my future flower beds. I was surprised to discover Tulip and Hyacinth bulbs emerging through the softness of the newly moistened soil. It was the rain from the storm that enabled them to break forth and see the light of the sun. I realized that if the storm hadn’t come, I would have gone ahead with my plans to rototill that area. It would have destroyed the beautiful flowers that were already there.

Sometimes God allows us to encounter storms in our lives in order to slow us down. We can’t see where He is leading us at the time, but if we study His Word faithfully, we will get glimpses of His “road signs” leading us in the right direction. We may grumble throughout the process, thinking our perfect plans have been ruined. But when the storm has passed, we discover that God has not forgotten us, but has been waiting for us to break forth and see the light of the “Son”.

The storms of life can come in many forms and situations that cause anxiety. We have two choices: fret and worry, or trust God. The disciples lived with Jesus and saw Him perform miracles. Yet when caught in dangerous waters out on the Sea of Galilee they still underestimated Him when it came to the storm around them. (Mark 4:35-41) He constantly amazed them! Today we have the Bible that tells us who Jesus is. Believe in His power to overcome the storms in our lives and lead us down new paths. He is our amazing Redeemer!

Luan Louis © 2011