The storm is raging. The ship dips and dives in the force of the strong winds, you stumble and plummet over the edge, falling into the vengeful sea. And you sink, deeper and deeper, the salty wetness crushing you with its dark weight. And then your limp arm is suddenly grabbed by a far stronger one, like the scene in Lord of the Rings when Sam is drowning and Frodo pulls him from the water, and you're clinging to the strongest lifeline you could ever have imagined. And as you are pulled to safety and rest in the strongest, most comforting arms, you wonder how you could ever have felt safe, comfortable, or complete before. And even though the storm was terrifying, and nearly drowning was possibly the worst experience you've ever gone through, the resulting rescue makes the storm utterly worth it.
There are so many storms in this life. Sometimes you stay in your ship, sometimes you get a lifeboat, find a log to float on, or your rubber-duck floaties fail and you sink to the bottom. No rhyme or reason, the storms simply come.
Sometimes I think we expect there to be no storms. We think once we follow Jesus the storms will just go away. We think Christianity equals easy, we think it means happy, fun, and full of unicorns and rainbows so long as we follow the rules and we're homeward bound. But nowhere in the Bible does God promise an easy life. Nowhere does He promise a calm sea. Nowhere does He promise that we will never have troubles, trials, or tribulations.
What He does promise, is refuge through the storms. He promises to be there all along the way, He promises that He will be glorified through our weaknesses and our trials, and promises that He'll never allow us to go through something we aren't strong enough to get through with Him.
We don't know exactly how we'll get through the storms, or exactly how Jesus will accompany us though them. He may choose to keep us aboard the ship, or provide a raft to sink upon. Maybe we'll get a lifeboat, or keep sinking. Those moments when we continue to sink are often the scariest, when we feel the most abandoned, but we have to keep trusting because that hand will come down, grasp our flailing arms, and rescue us again. Often at the last possible moment, when every bit of breath is gone and the darkness is closing in, but we hold onto faith and hope and comforting arms grasp us again.
I used to feel like my faith wasn't good enough through the storms because my stories never seem to be like "the stories." Story after story tells of the faithfulness of God being revealed through miraculous moments and mysteries. I feel like none of my stories are that epic, I have nothing super cool to tell. So my faith must not be great enough.
Like during one of Peter's storms, when he walked on water to Jesus' waiting arms. I can't walk on water, and I don't think I ever will. But I got to thinking. Maybe that's not my story. Maybe none of my stories match up with the stories of great faith I've heard because those aren't my story. My story can't be the same as the ones we've heard before because those are their stories, not mine. Maybe I'm not meant to walk on water, maybe I'm supposed to sink. Maybe at the bottom of the ocean is a person to be rescued, and only I can sink and get them, or a great treasure to be found that only I can discover. If I walked on water, my purpose would never be fulfilled, instead I must sink, find, and be found.
See we all have storms and we all have stories. God doesn't promise what the storms will look like or when they will come, and He most certainly doesn't promise calm seas, but He promises He'll be there in the storms. We don't know how He'll come through or how our stories will be written, but He promises they will be written, and they will be beautiful. Maybe difficult, there may be a few glitches in the computer while it's being typed up, but it'll be there. And it'll be perfect, because every story that God writes is.
God doesn't promise it'll be easy, He reminds us there will be storms, but He also promises to be with us through it all, faithful and loving no matter what.
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