Through the storms

Matthew 7:24-27

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

It rains doesn't it. In our life. We have great times of peace and joy where the sun is shining and all is right with the world, but then the rain comes.

Jesus teaches us that it's going to happen. A simple  and yet profound teaching. I thought about this twice this week. The first time was because of an actual storm and the second because of a family who suffered the loss of a son.  My best friend called to tell me the news and after I hung up the phone I cried and prayed for the family.  I have been through that loss. A few times.

As I went the next few days I mulled over and over the storms that I have been through and that if I didn't have a foundation built upon who Jesus I wondered what kind of person or situation I would be in. I kept thinking that it would have be a house that would constantly need rebuilding. Imagine for a minute that your own house or where you live, that if a storm hit that you had to keep rebuilding and rebuilding every time  a storm came. That would be crazy! I know that I would get sick of that pretty quick, but I would have to build something with an actual foundation, something of worth.   It would not be based off my own understanding and my own will. Which let's face it. My will power is pretty weak. I am thankful everyday that I have a relationship that's built upon the teachings of Jesus. It's pretty solid but it's in those moments of weakness though. In the storms that I cry out to God and he hears me.  I get to be held close by him.  Ps 34:17 "The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help and he rescues them from all their troubles."

It's interesting because in this moment of my pain, junk, and weakness God desires to be close to me. When I feel my least bit like loving others and pouring out is the moment God wants to pour in me. So don't worry if you don't have it all together. Jesus came to heal the sick and the broken. Cry out to him and he will rescue you. So in your pain and in the storm stop and just cry out.

The Road to Here! (wherever that may be)

You know this scripture. You've heard it a few hundred times.

Jeremiah 29:11

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

 

What does it mean to you? Is this encouraging to you? I know for a while that I had some doubts about God's plan for my family because of my own lack of perspective. As my wife and I were on this journey we encountered frustration, depression, tension, feeling lost, defeated and then all of a sudden things started to change. We realized that my job as a Marine was taking it's toll on our spiritual lives together. I wasn't leading worship much and she was not getting to volunteer. We had become so busy with everything else that we weren't spending time together in God's presence.  I felt like we had no hope. No future.

 

1.The Change:Pray First

What changed was us wasn't a huge spiritual mystery. It was just simply a case of surrender and let God rid of us our fears. When this dawned on us we took a spiritual inventory and realized we needed to just draw closer to God together. So we started first with our prayer life. We made the intentional effort of praying before everything and I do mean EVERYTHING! When we woke up, pray. When we had our breakfast, pray! When I left the house for work,pray!  Almost immediately we both began to see a change in our attitudes and in our marriage. God began to whisper that what he had promised would be fulfilled!  That moment of "light bulb" went off:

 

New Living Translation (NLT) Matt 6:31-33

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God^[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

 

2. Trust God: Don't let fear rule you.

 

The very first thing happens when you have change in your life isn't what you think. It's fear. Is this really God!? Is this right for my family? Where are we going to live? What will I do ? What will my girls DO!? AGGGHHH!? Then a still small voice speaks and you calm down and breathe in. Jesus reminds in Matthew's gospel that if we just Seek First God's way of doing things in our lives that all these other things will be taken care of! 

So in this moment. Breathe. Rest. Recharge and then be relentless in pursuing God. Things will not always happen in your time, but they will happen.  God is faithful.We had to go through some strange stuff to get where we are now. Lost  a solid job with benefits. Had a monumental failure. Had to move in with our in -laws. Pregnant with our 3rd child and it all started to feel hopeless but then it was as is if we just don't give up and don't give in just remain faithful, pray first, and seek first its going to work out. Then all of a sudden, it did. We started getting hints of a blessing on the way. We stayed faithful. We had to just cast fear aside and speak what God wants to do is bless us.  So in your moment doing all you can do to stand and stay strong , do it!

 

3. Worship God with all your heart,mind, and strength.

 

From my perspective I have always just turned to worship. I know this seems odd, but for me. Just getting time alone with God and singing with abandon and just declaring who God is in my life makes me feel closer to God's heart. So if you are going through a season of doubt and change it might be time to take spiritual inventory. Examine and be honest with yourself. The road to we took was winding and often filled with dangers to just give up. So focus on his presence and not your problem. Fix yourself on God's will and not on your fear.  

 

Let me finish with this. My wife took a the posistion of Family Life Director and we moved to the small town of Port St. Joe, Fl but we believe that God has BIG things here for us. God's story for our lives is in a new chapter. This was my wife's dream posistion. What's your story going to look like?