[1]EULESS, Texas (BP)–Lightning strikes the earth and thunder echoes in the chambers of heaven. The wind beats the angry shoreline while the waves crash into the dark, cold rocks. With each echoing thunderclap, our lives shudder in the tempest. It is a storm. We are living in a storm of life. We do not need to rehearse the lightning flashes that have seared our hearts and minds during these weeks — we are all facing a storm.
A question resounds in the deeps of our souls, “Can we navigate through this storm?” God’s Word gives us the answer and provides us with clear hope.
The psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in the time of trouble. Therefore I will not fear, even though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah” (Ps. 46:1-3).
Through the storms of life, we can trust God’s promise. He is our refuge and our strength. The picture that the psalmist paints is one of utter chaos; nothing is in order. Imagining complete destruction, the psalmist tells us that even if the continents sank into the depths of the oceans, the mountains crumbled and the oceans swallowed up the foundations of the earth, he would not fear because God is a refuge and strength.
We have all experienced a shaking in our world. How will we respond? How will we navigate through the storm that we face? The psalmist provides one simple answer: run to God. If God is “our refuge and strength” and “a very present help in the time of trouble,” it makes sense that we would run to him for wisdom, courage, strength and peace in the storms we face. We can trust him. We can trust his promises. If we run to other “things” other than God, like money, news or security, we miss the peace, hope and protection that HE alone can, and will, bring to our homes.
Our families will navigate through the storm if we run to God. The lightning flashes that strike us will not defeat us as we trust God to be our “help in the time of trouble.” Regardless of the storms our families face, as we run to God, he will transform troubles into triumph.
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Thomas is pastor of First Baptist Church, Euless, Texas. For more of his resources on discipleship, visit Lifepoints at www.firstonthe.net [2].
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