Our Storms, Their Rain
It seems the older I get, the more storms I, my family, and many others around me seem to be facing. Life can really be hard, can't it? However, in Matthew 9:23-26, Jesus was called to a leader's home because his daughter was near death. By the time he got there they were crying loudly because, probably by all medical standards and physical signs and symptoms, she was dead. What did Christ say? "the girl isn't dead, but sleeping"... they thought that was crazy, but left and let Him do his thing, and she awoke and was fine. NEWS SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE AREA. Again, in Matthew 9:1-8, some men brought a paralytic man to Jesus to be healed. However, Matthew says, "seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, 'Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven'". He didn't heal him right away. He did have a plan to heal the man and the scripture says, "when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and gave glory to God..." But Christ could see the hearts of those who were around the paralytic and He knew they needed to have a change of heart first.
Sometimes the hardest part about a storm is trying to understand it, but Isaiah 55:8 says "For [God's] thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not [God's] ways...[God's] ways are higher than your ways, and [God's] thoughts [higher] than your thoughts." The truth is, sometimes we will never understand the storm we are going through; but we have a God who does, and He has a plan. The hard truth of it is, that sometimes that plan isn't always about us, but often those who are witnessing or coming into contact with our storm. If we choose to respond in a negative way during the storm, we only point people to our fears, anxiety, and our human faults. But, if we choose to respond in a righteous, trusting, faith-full way, we point people to our Creator. There are so many hurting people out there, many of which we will never meet, but I guarantee you, they are often the receivers of the after effects of your storm. I know it's hard, it's hard for me too, but choose to acknowledge that God's perspective on your situation may be way different than yours. He sees you, loves you, cares for you; but at the same time, He is God and His ways are WAY beyond our comprehension.
"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken" (Psalm 55:22).
