Praise in the Storm

What I started to realize was that God didn’t want me to ask why, but who? God wanted me to ask who will be impacted because of this testimony?

As I drove to a local store today, I couldn’t help but notice people frantically running around trying to get the things they needed as the hurricane approached. I heard so many things as I walked the aisle. Many people would tell others to calm down they didn’t need to worry. Others ignored them and got prepared anyways. It made me wonder about our lives as Christians. How many of us, when a storm approaches, have that same instinct as the people in the local store did? How many of us go with the flow, and do not acknowledge the storm? How many of us run frantically trying to get prepared while forgetting our source?

I remember eight months ago going through a hard season of my life. During that season, I would find every instinct within me saying to ignore the signs and alarms happening in my mind. The people around me kept saying you are safe here. You can heal here, but my body alarms would say the opposite, and the same person that would tell me you can heal here was the same person that would say things like, “We have already sent you to counseling. I don’t know what more I can do for you.” When we find ourselves in storms, it can be overwhelming. Often what seemed like a clear path is no longer clear. Like the people frantically preparing at the store, it makes you wonder what I need to do. Instead of asking what can God do? I found myself, seeking people’s counsel more often than asking God for my family and my next steps in our life.

As I sit here typing. I am reminded of the storms in my life that I have gone through. I asked myself a lot of questions. For example, why did I have to go through that storm? Why did all of my friends in that community abandon me? What I started to realize was that God didn’t want me to ask why, but who? God wanted me to ask who will be impacted because of this testimony. You see in the storm I found a God who was empowering. I found a God who taught me that my identity was more than what others thought about me. I started to realize that God was building my character in a way that would be unexplainable to others.

How many of you have found yourself in the same storm as me? You found yourself questioning God for answers but didn’t get a response. Some of you did but didn’t like the answer you received. Storms are not easy to go through, and our natural response is panic, like the people at the local store. But I have found that God hasn’t called me too easy. He has called me to be bold and confident in Him because he is a God who can heal and restore. When I think back to 8 months ago, my perspective changed. My TESTIMONY is transforming and renewing many broken hearts and bringing them to the feet of Jesus. I have learned that storms are not easy, and healing is not quick. I have learned that it’s okay to not be okay. But my favorite lesson has been that God can turn a storm into a lesson. Then that lesson will turn into a testimony that will heal and restore the lost and broken.

So I leave you with this question. When you find yourself in a storm, (W)who is your source? Pslams 34:1-4 says,

” I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. 3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” 1

Never forget that in the middle of a storm when all feels lost. There is a God that when you seek Him. He hears you and will deliver you from all your fears. We are not alone.

2 CastingCrowns, “Casting Crowns – Praise You in This Storm (Official Lyric Video),” YouTube (YouTube, January 13, 2020), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YUGwUgBvTU.

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1 “Bible Gateway Passage: Psalm 34:1-4 – King James Version,” Bible Gateway, accessed October 3, 2022, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+34%3A1-4&version=KJV.

2 CastingCrowns, “Casting Crowns – Praise You in This Storm (Official Lyric Video),” YouTube (YouTube, January 13, 2020), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YUGwUgBvTU.