Storms of life

Browsing through some pictures I found this photo I took while on vacation in Colorado in 2006. We were out exploring the city, when huge black clouds loomed overhead, appearing from out of nowhere. Memories of this storm flashed through my head and with it, parallels of the current storm I'm weathering.

Like storms in nature, personal storms can erupt from virtually out of nowhere. It can be clear and sunny one minute, and black and tumultuous the next. Sometimes storms build up, sometimes they just erupt. I keep telling myself that like storms in nature, personal storms also dissipate - either suddenly stopping as quickly as they started, or slowing to a drizzle and then fading from memory.

Storms can also bring about change. Rain can turn dry, parched land into a vibrant, colorful, and life-giving paradise. But storms can also uproot and destroy. They can change the landscape they touch, completely altering what used to be.

My current storm continues to rage. The darkness of this storm isn't allowing the light to break through. My gut, my core being, knows that the light will return, but like nature that's been ravaged by a hurricane, I'm just not sure what the landscape is going to look like when it's over.

So how do I endure such a hard time? Where do i find strength to continue on through the darkness? Where do I find my shelter from the raging winds? In only one place.


I've weathered many, many storms in my life - natural and personal. Some storms led to that clean, new feeling that can only come after a good rain and others led more to the shambles pictured above. But in both cases, Christ held me through them, picked me up when the torrents brought me down, and dried me off so I could continue on with this journey called life.

When weathering storms, I try to remember that even the disciples didn't handle all their storms without fear or failure (and helps me as I look back on my own drenched moments). And as i stop and evaluate, I look at the question posed by Christ...

One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, He fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.

"Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

Where is my faith? When the storms of life crowd out my hope and my joy; when dreariness and fatigue burden my daily journey; when the storm seems like it will have no end, I stop and ask myself "Where is your faith?" And that inner peace emerges because I know He is in control and that this storm shall too pass.