Rolls of a Thunderstorm

Its summertime now; the weather is hot & humid one minute and changing the next. Thunderstorms roll in and crash around like the waves on a seaside.

And just like those waves, they roll out just as quickly. Sometimes leaving behind remnants of the surf.

If you have ever walked the shoreline, you perhaps have seen remnants from those waves; seashells, a piece of driftwood, beautiful coral or a piece of garbage. Sometimes it is not always pretty what is left behind…

It can be hard when life leaves behind less than desirable traces from a storm. Storms that hurl hurtful words, abandonment, or feelings of loss are not the things we display on our mantel. We collect those things from a storm, but leave them in a box in the back of our closet. We are careful with these souvenir boxes holding our wounds as they at tied deep to our soul. Opening them is frightening, which is exactly how our enemy likes them to be.

Those wounds left unattended creep into our heart hearths. Unforgiveness becomes bitterness, abandonment leaves to fear and losses uncomforted are an opening for dismay. Soon those boxes begin to resemble weights.

Recently I have gone through some rolls of life’s thunderstorms. They seems to mimic my local weather. Each week a severe thunderstorm rolled in, depositing flood waters and damaging winds. And each week, I would go around my yard on autopilot and pick up the aftermath.

My life storms began to take a toll on my heart. After one particular hard goodbye the lightening hit me; the sorrow of the losses and how things were going to be forever changed. Not necessarily for the worst, but it would be sometime before the best would surface. Somewhere between the thunderclaps and the flashes of light, I began to fear and become frustrated with this new life I quickly was swept out to sea in.

As another life line snapped away from me the following week, I soon found my only hope for weathering this storm was to completely put my trust in the boat I was in. Luckily, I was in a familiar boat- it was just in unchartered waters that were overwhelming me. Our God however does not take us out to sea to have us drown, rather when we are out to sea He provides us with current and wind to direct us for what He has prepared for us. Having focus on the horizon and not Him is when fear and anxiety attacks.

Remembering this I began to recall all the storms this dependable boat and I have be in. Recalling the different life storms one thing remained consistent; I was always intact in my little boat when the waves subsided. The boat never capsized and I was never thrown overboard no matter how hard the waves hit and the rains poured down.

Soon the waters I was in began to become recognizable. Not because I knew where I was or where I was going, rather it was discovering I have been in unknown waters before and my Savior was my safe harbor each time. No matter how deep the waters became, His love was always deeper and like a lighthouse, He guided me through the waters safely each time.

Life will continue to have storms, but we are not intended to be destroyed by them. They push us out to deeper waters where our trust can become stronger in Him. Some storms are meant to destroy and other bring forth the opposite when we choose in Him. With our boat being tossed about in the storm, we can open those boxes of hurt and cast them over the side. With the weight lifted, we are more buoyant in the storm and can weather it much better.

The waters will calm, the thunder will silence and when it is all over a beautiful rainbow is seen. A rainbow which is a sign and covenant to us that never again will we be destroyed by the waters.

Genesis 9:14-16 The Message (MSG)

From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth.”