Storms

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

It stormed Friday night. I used to LOVE storms but now I dread them. What changed? My rescue Jumbi. Jumbi is a 5 ½ year old Australian Cattle dog/black lab mix. His original family adopted him as puppy and then put him in the back yard to be left alone. No one played with him so he doesn’t know what to do with toys.. He did not get to come inside. What’s the point of having a dog if they aren’t part of the family? Anyway, I’m assuming for the first 3 ½ years this banishment to the yard meant he had to be outside in the worst of the Kansas City weather - snow, tornados, and storms… and we get some doozies here!

As Jumbi laid on my bed, while the storm did it’s thing outside Friday night, he panted and trembled. His trembles are so intense that it shakes the bed. When it’s not bedtime, he tries to be under me or between me and the solid object i’m closest to - the kitchen cabinets, the bathroom vanity, etc. You get the picture. He also tries to climb into the smallest spot possible… under the bed, into any cabinet I open, the refrigerator when I open it, and even the stove regardless of the temperature.

For Jumbi, storms are terrifying. Friday night’s storm was not too severe and so it was only the panting and trembling. While laying there trying to soothe him, I thought of the Apostles in the boat while Jesus slept. They were terrified. They may even have trembled. But God lets each of us experience those circumstances for us to learn from them. Learn what? To trust him. There is no place He will send us that He will not be with us.

After questioning the Apostles’ lack of faith, Jesus calmed the winds and sea. Can you imagine how beautiful this must have been to those in the boat? The calm sea, the clear skies, the sun shining through. It is the storms that bring the rainbows and sunshine. We often forget how beautiful it will be once the storm has cleaned the air and brought fresh life to everything with its life giving waters. Then the sunshine that makes everything bright again. Storms in our lives do the same thing. Jesus is the source of that life. He washes everything clean and brings new life to us.

I am learning to trust the storms. To trust that God only gives them to me to help me learn… to become who he wants me to be. He has given me so many ways to practice this trust. Yet He always sends a guide. The Holy Spirit provides avenues for me to follow God’s path. Sometimes it comes as an umbrella and sometimes it comes as a boat. Either way, it is never without the help of others.

Storms are part of our lives. Sometimes it takes the fiercest storms to help us appreciate the sunshine. Or maybe I should say Son-shine…

Believe,
Bobbi