Encouraging words when going through the storms of life 3.

This write-up is by a friend Ekenu Unu. I found it very encouraging at a time in my life when I needed to hear these words again."This too shall pass". I hope it's a blessing to someone else.

There is a song that springs up in my spirit whenever I am faced with something that I question my ability to bear. And this too shall pass, Like every night that came before it.There are things that happen in life that literally knock the wind out of you. Perhaps it is a financial situation that you can’t see the way out of, perhaps it’s the betrayal of a loved one, perhaps it’s the loss of health, or the loss of a spouse. Whatever it is, it feels like the end of something. Sometimes it feels like the end of you.It’s not.

When a storm is raging, it feels so intense. The lightning and thunder can cause even an adult to long to hide under the covers but it does not last forever. Even the hurricanes eventually end. And while it may have devastated the things above the land, deep underneath the earth still has the ability to give life again. I have experienced things in my life that felt like that. A raging storm, chaos and pain that seems to never let up, situations over which I feel I have no control. When Jesus was in the boat with the disciples, he was sleeping, while the storm raged around them. They became afraid. They went to rouse him, because they were so fearful that they roused him with attitude, saying “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown”. He awoke and commanded the storm “Quiet, be still”. Then after dealing with the storm, he then said to the disciples. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

This is what I have been learning lately.I have been convicted. I write about my faith and I can tell anyone who cares to listen that I trust God, but a little rain and I start to panic. The truth is that we may not notice Jesus in our lives when the storms are raging. It may seem as if he is sleeping. We may be shouting and crying out, “Lord, are you not there?” I have been challenged to my core and today I stand in the midst of a storm but for the first time in a long time. I am not afraid. The wind has been swirling around me threatening to destroy so much that I hold dear, but today I realize that those things that I thought defined me, even if the winds uproots them from my life, I will still be me. This storm too shall pass.

There is something crippling about fear. I don’t know how many times it is written in the bible, do not fear, don’t be afraid. In my personal revelation, it is an area that God has been dealing with me on. I am being forced to grow in ways I never thought possible. Do not give way to fear.When we run under the covers, instead of facing the wind, we are simply hiding. We cannot hide from our problems. We cannot hide from our pain. We can petition God, cry out in anger and it may seem like He is silent, but perhaps this storm is an instrument of God to build your faith. I know it has been for me and this particular squall is no exception.

It is the fear that holds us hostage. It is the fear that blinds us to our own power.I have been afraid of so many things. I cannot share my whole heart. As a result, I have made so many decisions that I would remake if I had the chance. In Luke, there is a word that says whoever loves his life shall lose it. Imagine how the disciples felt in that boat. There was a man who they knew to be the son of God laying there. He had been talking to them of spiritual things, showing them heaven. He had been assuring them of their own power. They knew that as long as they were with him, they would be alright. Yet they panicked. In our lives sometimes we panic.We compromise our faith because we panic.

A young woman, who knows that God has promised her the desires of her heart, makes decisions she knows are wrong just to keep a man because deep down she is afraid that she might never find love. A wife goes to ungodly places because she cannot have a child and is afraid that she might lose her home as a result. A mother doesn’t chasten her son because she is afraid he will turn his back on her.A woman doesn’t stand up for herself because she is afraid she will lose her marriage.I understand this kind of fear all too well. I have felt it. I am thankful because we serve a God that calms the storms first and then chastises later.

This storm too shall pass.

But in the meantime, in between time, even though the rain may come down with enough force to drench you and the winds threaten to knock you over. Even though it looks like you life is about to fall apart. Hold on to your faith. Do not give way to fear. And this too shall pass Like every night that’s come before it. He’ll never give you more than you can bear. And this too shall pass. So in this thought please be comforted. It’s in His hands. Yes this too shall pass