In the Eye of the Storm

    Have you ever noticed what happens to a sea-shore over time?  As the waves crash against it  a new shore line is created.  In one day  the pressure from storms and crashing waves  can change what has been for years. I see my life in the same light. Sometimes, the waves and storms of life changes who you are immediately. It changes  your perspective and brings you to a place of discomfort.  Then, there are instances when the storms and waves of life take time to bring forth change. I think these are the hardest seasons; we may feel like we’ve been torn down. All we can see is everything that is going wrong. Feeling bare, as if you’ve been stripped of everything.  I’ve been there and all I remember saying is, “God, so when are you going to build me up, when will this storm end ?”  What’s so crazy about erosion and storms is that we never see the finished product until it is……..wait for it…. FINISHED. I’m not sure if you are like me, but I want to see the finished product first (smh).  That right there is a trust issue. I’ve learned that  during the storms of life  what lies beneath becomes uncovered. One thing that was exposed for me was that I STRUGGLE to trust God. Some of us are too quick to pray to escape the storm. We fail to see that God’s true intention, revealing and testing what lies beneath. He wants to see how much of Christ we have within us. He wants to check and strengthen our faith, expose character flaws and build endurance. There is a season and a time for everything. God utilizes those seasons according to the counsel of His will. What if in this season tearing down is what’s best for you? He cannot used unrefined materials to build.

                The storms we go through requires us to trust in God’s process, not our process. We have to walk through the storm even when we do not know what awaits  us at the end of it. God’s erosion of who we are is not for  destruction but for transformation.    Could it be that the storms and waves are there to do just what it does to the shore line, transform it? Could it be that God wants to transform me into something else?  To give me a new perspective. To change the way I see my life and bring me to a place where I depend on Him. Allowing me to let go and  yield to what He is doing. There is a certain freedom in a storm because YOU HAVE NO CONTROL Instead, all we can do is trust that the storm and the waves won’t destroy us! But instead it will transform us.  God is in the transformation business, that’s why He calls us to renew our minds. He promises to complete the good work He has began within us. I fear that some of us will miss what God is doing by prematurely resisting what God wants to work out within us through the storm.

Moreover [Let us exult and triumph in our sufferings and affliction knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance . And endurance(fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character ( of this sort) produces [ the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.                                                                                                                                   Romans 5:3-5 AMP

To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven. A time to kill and a time to heal,  a time to break down and a time to build up .                                                                                                                                            Ecclesiastes 1:1 & 3 AMP

But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have  full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be[people] perfectly and fully developed [ with no defects], lacking nothing.                                                                                                                                James 1:4

What are some of your thoughts about storms?  Please feel free to share! Let’s bloom together!