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3 Things the Storms of Life Help Us See
If we open our eyes, we may see Jesus in our storms, in control, and eager to invite us into His presence.
The first of the year equals desperate times for people in the Midwest. All of the whimsical, Christmas snow that fell so delicately a month before has now turned into piles of icy despair sprinkling the landscape. A 50-degree day and a ray or two of genuine sunshine is all it takes for people to finally emerge from their domiciles and rejoice in the streets. A stormy day is greeted with a chorus of groans resembling the Israelites in Egyptian exile. We respond similarly to the spiritual storms in our lives, too. We’d much rather they pass as quickly as possible rather than pause to consider what they might help us see. So that’s what I want to help us discern if we find ourselves in a new or prolonged life storm, and answer this question: what does a storm help us see?
1. We are susceptible to bad weather
We are very surprised when we face difficult moments and seasons. Peter reminds us to not be.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” — 1 Peter 4:12-13
This can create disillusionment, but disillusionment is not necessarily a bad thing. We don’t want to be under the illusion that everything is going to be wonderful all the time. Nor do we want to be cynical, thinking that difficulties are the foregone conclusion of our lives. The goal is to live with a sanctified sobriety. A more Biblical word for this is discernment.
My mom had some health issues come up in the past couple of years in the form of a hip replacement and skin cancer. She’s doing well now, but I remember her calling me, saying, “Ronnie, I just don’t understand what’s happening to me.” Not to be too dark in my humor here, but I wanted my reply to be, “Eighty years old! That is what is happening to you, Mom!” But as someone who had suffered very few physical health issues in her life, it was confusing and disorienting to her when she did. For those of us in ministry, the question shouldn’t be “will we have storms?” but how do we steer the ship when they come?
Steer with Renewed Understanding of God’s Heart
God is not punishing us when we find ourselves square in the middle of the rain and waves. Jesus spoke to this mental dilemma we face in John 9:1-3: “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”
Steer with Renewed Understanding of God’s Hand
God is not punishing you, but He is repurposing you. Here is another way of looking at it: How is God redistributing the volume in your life? For example, I have been producing and recording music for over 35 years. When you finish recording a song, it has to be mixed. You have to decide where everything is placed in the song for the optimum listening experience. The problem with mixing is that it’s subjective. There is no song that has all the sounds at the same level, but it’s up to the mix engineer to decide where to best place the sounds. The Lord is both the producer and the mix engineer of your life. At different times, He is going to turn up or turn down the volume in different areas to repurpose you for the work of the gospel.
The question becomes, how well are we listening? Is He trying to lower the volume in an area of your life that is way too loud? Is He trying to turn up the volume in an area because you’re just not hearing it? Maybe it’s time for you to gain some deeper understanding about the volume levels in your life and think about how He might be remixing and repurposing you.
2. We have been taking the sun for granted
I was born and raised in Southern California. You experience a lot of things in that culture, but one of the main experiences is that it’s sunny almost every day of the year. Because of that, there is a constant drought (brown is beautiful!), and when it actually rains, everybody loses their minds, calls in sick to work, and gets into massive amounts of car accidents because all of the oil rises to the top of the asphalt as cars spiral out of control. People in California feel like rain is God raining judgment upon them. It wasn’t until I moved to Ohio 14 years ago that I was introduced to this cold, powdery substance that fell from the sky. One thing that came with the snow was the realization of how much I had taken the sun for granted. I remember a few years ago when Ohio beat Seattle for the most cloudy days. Which is super fun.
Ministry is such an emotionally intense vocation that we can easily take what’s good for granted.
And by good, I mean the relationships with the people we’re doing ministry with. A lot of the time in ministry, trust doesn’t get broken as much as it seems to erode. And that erosion is usually not intentional; it’s because we’ve stopped being intentional. A storm helps us see how those relational shelters we take for granted need to be reinforced. Where can we begin?
- With Perspective: Spend some time recounting all that God has done. “We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.” — Psalm 75:1
- With Honesty: Spend some time confessing areas of neglect, moments of hurt, unmet expectations, and grievances that have grown out of proportion.
- With Forbearance: We ministers can be notoriously bad when it comes to showing forbearance to one another. Giving the people around you the benefit of the doubt is acknowledging the love that has been there, even if it feels less intense in the moment. It is realizing that although you may have unmet expectations, you might just as equally have unfair expectations. If you struggle with forbearance, you might need to ask, “If I’m not letting things go as I should, I should probably be curious as to why that is?”
- With Eagerness: Eagerness to establish peace as much as it is in your power. Eagerness to look not only to your interests, but to the interests of others. Eagerness to look in the mirror, take responsibility for what you can, and seek ways to turn a lamp on in a place that has become dim.
- With Prayerfulness: It’s your secret weapon. I’m convinced that we don’t pray all that much. I can’t think of one situation I’ve been in where prayer has been the leading response when relational shelters have eroded. Why do you think you don’t pray as you should?
Every time you pray, it’s like reinforcing your house against spiritual mold from developing behind the walls.
3. The sun cannot be extinguished by a storm
Hardly a revolutionary thought, but consider this: The sun is no less in the sky during a storm than when the sky is blue. It is just obscured.
How does this help us?
It guards us against falling into despair, it gives us renewed confidence in Jesus, and grounds us in gratefulness for when future storms emerge. We’re not thankful for a storm, but we’re thankful for the presence of Jesus in the storm, which helps put our fears into perspective. It helps stabilize our intensity levels.
Do you not believe that the same Lord who stilled the storm can still your emotional, spiritual, and relational storms? Remember the story of Peter meeting Jesus on the water in Matthew 14? The Lord didn’t call Peter out to Him so that he could learn some new aquatic exercises. He called Peter out to the sea in order to save a drowning man.
Why might you be in the storm you’re in right now? What does God want you to see? How does God want to save you?
What the storm helps us see is that before the storm, we weren’t seeing so clearly. But if we open our eyes, we may see Jesus in our storms, in control, and eager to invite us into His presence.
Be courageous, friends.
