God is with me in the Storm

Today is the day which the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!! Ps. 118:24

What a sweet reminder as we brace for another hurricane. God is everyone, there is no place where He is not present. It was a good reminder this morning as I checked on the news, lifted up a quick prayer and went about the business of washing dishes, doing laundry and doing the daily stuff of maintaining a home.

I fussed a little.

Remembering when I was first married, how it seemed I was doing the same thing every day. I could work hours on a meal, and the very next day I had to do it all over again!! Every day seemed to be the monotonous…go to work, come home, fix dinner, do the dishes and get up the next day and do it again.

No matter how perfect the yard was mowed. It had to be cut again next week. Nothing stayed “fixed”. Everything including me needed constant maintenance. Constantly!

There were times I wanted to go on strike. “This mama is taking a break.”  

Hey, a short break is good!! In fact, we are told to take a Sabbath rest. But if we find ourselves on our backs too long eating Bon Bons and watching TV, the weeds will grow, the dried eggs on plates get harder to wash, and the small heap of laundry soon becomes a mountain for kids to climb.

But if one takes a closer look at the creation story, taking time to maintain things is how God designed the world to work.

He knew it would take time, and yet, He pronounced it good!!!! Genesis 1:26-31

So here are a few thoughts on hurricanes, storms and the daily maintenance of life. (Some of us may think they are one and the same)

Jesus can make the storms stop and sometimes He does. Mark 4:39-41

Sometimes Jesus allows the storm and sometimes even sends us into the storm. So, He can take us through the storm. Mark 6:45-54; John 6:15-21

When my mom began to decline quickly. It was a storm. I did not want to go through it!! It was too hard. I asked God to remove me from the storm!!! “Please LORD, can someone else care for her in these last days?!!”  

Then the LORD brought to my mind how Jesus had sent His disciples into the storm. The Bible tells us that Jesus had gone up into a mountain to pray and when He saw them struggling at the oars, He came to them and Jesus took them through the storm!! It was as though the LORD was saying, “I see your struggle and I know it is hard. If you want to send your mom to hospice it is your decision, and you can be removed from the storm. But if you let Me, I can take you through the storm and you will learn something of Me.”

“I can strengthen and sustain you, if you let Me take you through the storm!!!”

So, I did.

And God was faithful. He sat with me and my family “in the boat” and took us through the storm.

He is with me in my kitchen. He is with me when I am working in the yard, He is with me when I am driving, visiting friends, and carrying burdens that seem too large to bear. God is everywhere and He is with me in the storm!!!