I picked up my fifteen-year-old son from school yesterday and, to my shock, he grinned and said,
“Hey, Mom, we haven’t had a date in a while. I’ll even talk about my feelings if you buy me a meal.”
With high school graduation just three short years away, I take Chase up on the opportunity to have a date anytime he asks. I don’t think I can put a price tag on the conversations we have had about faith, love, finding and being the kind of mate that God would want, and what is going on in his head. Chase is a reserved young man, but, occasionally, he will open the door of his heart and let me take a peek inside. I love that boy so much!
While we were sitting at Applebee’s, a violent thunderstorm came rushing over the restaurant. The rain was so thick, we couldn’t see our minivan parked just ten feet away from the building. Although clouds had been gathering and the sky had looked rather dark before we sat down to eat, the intensity of the storm took us off guard.
Maybe that describes where you are, my friend. The clouds have been gathering for a while, but the thunder has been so low and faint that you have even questioned if you really heard it at all. Now, without warning, you are in a deluge so fierce that it has taken your breath away.
How terrifying it would be if I didn’t know the Master of the storm. He is right in the middle of it with me, but I can still feel completely alone and abandoned. I can easily start to panic.
This is the truth:
He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses. Psalm 135:7 (NLT)
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses. Psalm 135:7 (NLT)
If He were unjust or unloving, I would have reason to panic, but this is the truth of His character toward those of us who are in the middle of the storm:
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he. Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV)
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he. Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV)
He controls it all. The storm will not be allowed to destroy us if we cry out for rescue. Every now and then, I need a good reminder that I never do have any power to sustain my life or the lives of those I love. Storms are a great way to give me perspective of God’s power and how desperately I need Him – all the time, even when all I can see is blue skies.
