“My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can’t stop shaking. Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly away to the quiet of the wilderness. How quickly I would escape – far from this wild storm of hatred.” (Psalm 55: 4-8 NLT)
How often when assaulted by the “storms” of life have we wanted to “fly away and rest?” It’s our instinct to want to avoid trauma, trials, tribulations, yet isn’t it in these very storms that we see our Savior’s face most clearly? Could it be in our haste to avoid pain, we miss opportunities for healing?
David’s words ring loud and clear for those of us in the midst of perilous storms. How often I’d like to wake up from the “nightmare” of the issues I now face and fly to a distant place devoid of pain, heartache, and suffering. But even as I consider those thoughts, it occurs to me that I don’t need to fly anywhere. But why? Because the Lord meets me IN the storm, not away from it or even on the other side.
That’s the beauty of the story of Jesus walking on the water that we looked at a few days ago. In Matthew 14:27 the Bible says: “But Jesus spoke to them at once, ‘Don’t be afraid,’ He said, “Take courage. I am here!’” The storm is raging, their boat is sinking, all hope is lost, but they didn’t realize that Jesus was on the scene. He didn’t tell them He would “fly them away.” He simply said, “Don’t be afraid.” But why? The storm is still raging; the waves are still crashing! Because “I am here!”
In the midst of our storms we don’t need deliverance, we need Jesus. We don’t need to fly away; we need to walk to Him “on the waters” of whatever storm is raging. Help, healing, and wholeness will never be found anywhere but in intimacy with the Master.
Beth Moore addresses this when she writes: “We want Christ to hurry and calm the storm. He wants us to find him in the midst of it first.” How often do we prolong our own pain because we persist in making our own way? We think “I just need a better doctor or a more effective medication!” when what we need is more intimacy with the Savior.
We want things to be better, then we’ll spend more time praying, be more faithful at church, and serve the needs of others. But God’s plan is to “bloom where we’re planted,” in the soil of hardship, pain, and turmoil. We can’t forget the Lord has allowed us to be in this circumstance and He never allows anything except He has purpose. Christine Caine gives us insight when she writes: “Allow God to work and shine through the chaos.”
Where do we get the notion that we should have a trouble-free life? It’s certainly not in the Bible. Jesus clearly said in John 16:33: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Did you catch that: “peace in Me!” Wherever the Lord is there is peace, including in the midst of our storms.
Yes, of course they’re hard, trying, difficult with which to cope, anger-inducing, spirit-challenging, frightening, and a hundred other scary things, but when we choose to focus on those things rather than on Jesus, we lose our peace. HE IS OUR PEACE! He IS our deliverance! He is the One to whom we “fly away” in our heart and mind to escape the traumas of our predicaments. When will we learn to trust Him in the MIDST of our storms, not wait until they’ve passed?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 