Thursday, May 14, 2009

Life's Storms

Right now, I am sitting on my back porch and watching an incoming storm. It hasn't reached us yet, but I can tell already that it is going to be a big one. Right now, I am watching the storm from the outside, and that got me thinking. Somewhere, someone is in the middle of that storm. They are possibly worried or scared, but from my point of view, right now it is a thing of beauty. Watching the lightning light up the sky and listening to the distant thunder, while a cool breeze blows in ahead of it.
I wonder if this is how our lives look to God sometimes. When we are in the middle of a storm, I wonder if it is beautiful from God's point of view. How many times does this happen in our lives? Something seems terribly wrong, and in the end, it is a huge blessing. My brother was diagnosed with cancer several years ago. I was at a point in my life that I was questioning God, and this was just one more thing to blame Him for, or use to question if He was even real. My brother's faith during his struggle with cancer, while he lost his job and had to stuggle just to stay alive, is the reason that I returned to church. I would eventually recommit my life, because of my brother's cancer.
I hate that my brother had to go through that, but I believe God allowed it for a reason. I believe God sat outside that storm and saw its true beauty. He knew my brother's faith would be strengthened and mine would be restored.
There have been many "storms" in my life that I couldn't tell you what the blessing out of it was. Maybe I'm not supposed to know. Maybe it wasn't for me. My brother had to live through a storm, and it was my life that was blessed for it. I don't believe that God makes bad things happen to us, but I do believe that He allows them to. He can take bad decisions by us or even others and turn them into good.
When we have our storms, and we begin to blame God, I think we need to ask ourselves a couple of questions. First, why am I blaming God in the first place? He knows more about the situation than I ever will. Instead of blaming Him, maybe we should just trust Him. Finally, am I mad at Him for not meeting one of my wants or one of my needs?
Well, the storm just got here, so I guess I should pack up and head inside. It is now my turn to ride out the storm and let someone else enjoy its beauty from the outside.