One of my dogs, Phoebe, has a terrible time with storms. She pants and becomes terrified. Nothing calms her down. Her mother, Lydia, on the other hand, has lived through a hurricane. She just sleeps through the storms. Nothing bothers her. How do you handle the storms in your life? Do they cause you anxiety, or are you able to sleep through them?
First, there will always be storms and trouble. We have a choice: we can let the storms master us, or we can master the storms. In other words, we can allow the storms to overwhelm and crush us, as some have done, or we can choose to fight them. While we may not have the power of Jesus to quell a storm with our voices, we do have the power to overcome its effects.
Second, the storms in our lives shape us. They help us build our character and make us better people. God has given us the intelligence and strength to work through issues and experiences so that we may become stronger having gone through them.
Third, sometimes a storm is necessary to prepare for something new. Storms remove the old landscape to allow new growth. Storms uncover things that have long been buried so that people can uncover the riches of the past. While we think of storms as destructive, sometimes they can be instructive, as well.
This week, think of the storms you’ve weathered in the past. What did you learn from those experiences?