God in your stormy days

Another killer storms roll through our lives, and we watch.  We wait.  We cry.  "Not again God."

These storms don't seem to stop.  And I am not talking about severe weather storms that turn deadly.  I am talking about life storms where sorrow shapes our faith.

If there is one thing that storms bring is a community or a platform to share how God is good.  I don't understand these storms any better than you.  I don't have a special connection like you would think.   

Here is one thing I have learned from the storms of life.  God is God and He will never stop loving us, no matter how far the storms take us.  He doesn't give up on us nor does he turn His back on us.  Each and every storm gives God the opportunity to bring something good.  

There are good things that I can embrace in each storm, but I have stopped asking the "why" questions.

There are those stormy days I don't allow my heart and mind to wonder or wander through the doubting Thomas moments.  God is good and that is a fact.  So when others are asking the whys of God, I am saying...."shhhhh" in my heart.  God has silenced the mysteries of storms in my heart.  I have to be honest, here ...I wish I had an answer for you...

I don't feel qualified to say why God doesn't stop your storms.  Why He doesn't put an end to them or divert them.  I don't know. 

I don't want to put blame on a Holy God for something that nature caused.  Or some life storming event caused by evil, or worse yet my own deceitful desires.  At the end of the day, when I hold God in one hand and the world in the other, I come out with the same result every time.

God is God.  God is Good.  God is greater than me.  

When storms hit us up and down and unaware, when pain invades our lives, when sorrow shapes our faith, God is still God and that is that.  I believe that what breaks His heart sometimes is the blame we place on God with our stormy laments and that we didn't allow Him to help us through.

We try to stop our own storms.

Who am I to question God about being God?  I am not qualified, nor will I ask that.

What I can do is question myself about why am I looking for a explanation.    

It's not about what I understand or don't understand.  

It's about who God is in my storm.  

It's about God's greater purpose that overrides my need to understand.  

It's about keeping my eyes open to the good that God can bring through my storms.  

It's about believing that these heart-hitting storms are God's refining my faith.    

It's about who God brings alongside my community with whom I can share my splintered spirit.  It's about the deep growth of faith that encourages along the storm ravaged path.  

I can ask God about that stuff and for the healing and restoration that comes from storms.

The Lord our God is ever faithful.  He never changes in my storms.  

When our souls are flooded with His Grace, it becomes apparent that He weathers the storms of this life with us.  We are not alone.  He is close to the things that break us.  He is close to the brokenhearted.

He is God and that is that.  He helps us through our storms.

When questions of "why" flood your soul, don't let them distract you from God's great purpose in what you can learn and encourage through this believer community.  The doubt that comes, loves to isolate and bring fear, leaving us lonely and rejected.  Alone.  Those emotions chip away at our resolve.  Those negatives erode our confidence in the God who "we know that in all things HE works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28.

Who said that storms in life can't be included in God's good plan for us?    

"Every flood of trouble remakes the landscape of your souls – making you better or bitter." ~ Ann Voskamp.

When God shows Himself in your storm...well don't ask the hard questions....just embrace His goodness.  He has every good thing that will get you through to the next storm.  He is every good thing that hovers over our life with His Grace.

He weathered a deadly storm on the Cross.  For you and for me.  Not for a moment has He left me in my storms.  He will not leave you alone in yours either.  Not for a moment will He forsake you. It's comforting to know that He is in the middle of whatever storm you are going through right now.  God will not leave this turmoil, even when it gets intense or hopeless.

God is Good and that is that.  This truth is enough to silence wondering questions in my heart.