It was a cold and wet Sunday afternoon as I drove my friend's little girl home from church. Tahlia, 4 years old, was chatting away as usual and I was half listening to her and concentrating on the difficult driving conditions.
As the rain grew heavier and heavier, I came to a stretch in the road where you could usually see the ocean over the dunes. Today you couldn't even see the scrubs along the roadside. Unprotected from the full force of the ocean, the car started to shake and sway in the wind. I was trying to slow down carefully, aware that now, not only could I not see the bonnet of my car but I also couldn't see the cars around me. A thick sheet of water was falling on my car and I was terrified.
I reached my hand behind me to hold the now quiet Tahlia's hand.
"Thalia," I yelled above the deafening pelt of rain, "We are going to pray."
Thalia gripped onto my hand and I called out in a loud voice.
"God, please stop the rain!"
The very second the last word left my mouth, the rain stopped.
It didn't die down and come to a stop, it just stopped. It was as if a tap was turned off. As if a kink had been made in the hose of a sprinkler.
And suddenly there was silence. No more pelting of rain, no howling wind, just perfect silence.
"God stopped the rain! God stopped the rain!" shouted Thalia. I couldn't talk. I drove in silent awe at the crazy thing that had just occurred.
The rest of the 15 minute drive home not a single drop of water landed on my windshield. The grey sky held every bit of rain in its dark, ominous clouds and I didn't see a single tree bending in the breeze.
We pulled up outside the house and I got out and helped Thalia out of her seat. We walked inside and just as we walked under the cover of the garage, the sky's opened up once more.
"God, stop the rain! God stop the rain!" Thalia cried out at the window for the rest of the day. She was sure He would do it again. He didn't, at least not that day. For weeks after, with the slightest indicators of condensation, Thalia would cry out to ask God to stop the rain. She had witnessed a miracle and she wasn't going to forget it.
I was reminded of this moment in my life that happened about 10 years ago last Sunday as I was singing a song at church.
Storms
Storms are a part of life. Some people love storms. They will get excited when they hear thunder and settle down for a cozy night in. Others hate storms. They cringe at the flash of lightning and groan about their washing on the line. I don't really care one way or another about the weather except when I am inconvenienced. I don't want to get my hair wet if I go out, I don't want to wait under shelter, I don't want to have to remember an umbrella and I really don't want to have an accident on the roads.
Every once in awhile there is a massive storm that comes in and tears the place apart. The great storm of 2010 in Perth is one of those occasions. If you lived in Perth then, you can tell me exactly where you were when it hit, what damage it caused to your property and the inconvenience it caused to you and your family. That storm sucked! I had $18,000 worth of damage to my almost brand new $20,000 car (how bummed was I to not get it written off so i could get a new one?).
We often refer to hard periods of time in our lives as storms. Some storms are short and quick and more of an inconvenience. Some are bigger and can be stressful at the time but all is well in the end. Others, like the great storm of 2010 are massive, cause unprecedented damage and are permanently remembered as a major moment in your life.
So what do we do when we are caught in a storm?
1. We can carry on until we get through it.
Some storms can be ridden out. Some, we just need to buckle down, believe that it won't last forever and move on. I could have just continued to drive home, but my gut and experience told me that this wasn't a normal storm.
2. We remember that we don't cause storms.
It's not our fault that their is crazy weather going on. You don't have mutant superpowers. So stop looking for meaning in a storm. It's not time to play the blame game. When illness hits or we find life to be stressful we often think "why". Why is this happening? What did I do to deserve this? Guys it's weather. It happens to all of us in some shape or form.
3. Pull over and wait it out, seek shelter.
Sometimes you have to pull over to the side of the road and wait. Last year my job was killing me. I wasn't sleeping at night, I was constantly stressing and I began to feel anxious about everything I was responsible for in the world. So I pulled over and decided to wait it out. This meant that I stopped my side business of baking, I stopped going to things that weren't necessary and I focussed on waiting it out. (Of course I started looking for new work too, if the boat is sinking, it's time to get on a new one)
4. Cry out for help.
Maybe this should be first point. Here's the deal, the bible is so full of scriptures about God hushing the storms.
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.”Psalm 107:28-30
Our desired haven? Does that mean he cares about where we want to go? Does that mean he cares about giving us peace on our journey? I think we think he doesn't care about us enough to stop it. We know he loves us, but it's easy to detach and think about it as a far away, broad stroke of the brush kind of love. The love that covers a multitude of sins can't be the same love that cares about the details can it? How can my cry for help be considered the same as someone who has "real" issues? I keep comparing my storm with someone else's storm and I feel like mine is dumb and little and not worth praying about.
5. Trust that HE commands the waves and wind and have peace.
In Matthew, Mark and Luke there is a story of Jesus on a boat in the middle of the storm. This dude is so chill that he's asleep! He has to be woken up to be asked to stop the storm. With a simple word the waves and wind settled. In the midst of it all we should remember that unless God is concerned, we shouldn't be. He's got it. We spend so much time worrying about the outcome that we waste our lives worrying about things that God is in command of.
“The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,”Nahum 1:7 NIV
A couple of months ago at church I was very distressed. Life was hard, work was very hard.
"God, I just don't think you care about this," I cried out to God. "You don't care where I work or what the conditions are like. You don't care who I will marry or if I will have a family. As long as I serve you, I don't think you care. Im wanting a job that I wake up for in the morning happy to get out of bed for. I'm wanting to meet someone who lights a spark in me but I think you are pushing me to settle for mediocrity, just get what I get. You don't care about the details. You just don't care." This wasn't the first time I had said this silently to myself, possibly not the first time I had said it to God either.
In the loudness of the music playing through the speakers, I heard a voice inside. Through the noise of the storm that raged within, a voice cried out.
"I care the most, I care the most!" My God was yelling through the midst of the storm. "I care the most"
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”
Psalm 55:22 NIV
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7 NIV
6. Have faith in the restorer to fix what has been damaged
I felt prompted to write a list on my phone of what i needed out of a new job. The list was simple:
- More flexibility in my conditions
- Work that worked around my lifestyle (remember that I had given up a lot of life for my previous job)
- Bosses that cared
- No uniform
- Same pay and perks from my previous job
Every single thing on my list was met. God demonstrated that He cared. That He cared about the details. That He cared the most.
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
Isaiah 26:3 NIV
SO I guess what I'm trying to say is this:
Storms they are coming whether we want them to or not. Batten down the hatches and hold on. But when it get's tough, remember that you know the one who commands the waves and wind. He cares about you and what you are going through. He cares the most.
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