Stop looking at the wind

I was making dinner last night and the room started getting really dark.  I peeked out the window and saw the darkest clouds coming.  Grabbing my phone, I ran out back to quickly capture the sight.

My husband loves storms; they remind him of growing up in West Africa, hearing the plink of rain on their tin roof.  He often sits outside and listens to the rain, and loves the sound of thunder in the middle of the night.

Me, not so much.  I still jump a little bit when I see flashes of lightning and hear claps of thunder.

It's that way in my heart, too.  Storms come in the form of troubles, uncertainty, what appear to be closed doors, or what I perceive as unanswered prayers.  My natural tendency is to shudder in fear, doubt God, and grow weary with anxiety.

Only a few hours after I took that picture of the storm, we received word that the tenants we thought had secured our home with a three year lease, fell through.  I went to sleep last night, fighting worry.

My heart was fixed on the storm.

During my Bible reading this morning, I was looking through the gospels and Acts, reading about the life of Peter.  He was an ordinary guy, a fisherman, familiar with boats, water and storms on the sea. I read in the book of Matthew the story of Jesus walking on the water, in the midst of a storm, heading toward the disciples' boat.  The disciples were terrified, thinking Jesus was a ghost.

Peter, the eager spokesperson of the group, said, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."   When Jesus told Peter to come, "Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came to Jesus."

But, then, Peter saw the wind.  And he was afraid.  And he began to sink.

Peter fixed his heart on the storm.

After Jesus had taken hold of Peter, rescuing him from the water, He said, to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Just like Peter, I had doubted.  I had doubted God's goodness, His ways, His plans.  I had doubted His character.

We are not promised a storm free life.  We are promised a never-changing God, who walks with us through the storm.

I don't know what storms you're facing right now, but whatever the storm might be, there's a choice:   We can look at the wind of uncertainties and troubles, or we can look at the One who controls the wind, carries us through the wind, and promises His presence and grace.

It is only by looking to Jesus that our hearts can be calm in the midst of troubling storms.

Scripture taken from Matthew 14:22-33


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