Are You Midst A Storm?

September 27, 2014

After trying to decide what to share with you, the Lord put it upon my heart to
 share about the storms of life; those unexpected trials that come our way. No
storm is  pleasant. Each one is stressful, difficult, and painful. Each one  causes
 us to at times become fearful, worried, depressed, and discouraged.
   
While trying to cope with my latest trial, I heard a story that not only lifted 
my spirits, but clarified my vision and got me back on track. I hope it does 
the same with you.

                                                   The Canary

There was a lady who had a beautiful yellow canary. She loved that little
bird, especially loved hearing it's beautiful song, because hearing it always
seemed to make her hard life easier- her burdens not quite so heavy.
    
 Every morning, rain or shine, the first thing she did before breakfast, 
was to vacuum the carpet, because it was always full of bird seeds below 
the bird cage. On this particular morning, she'd finished doing the carpet
 and switched to the small hand vacuum she owned.
   
Her intention was to quickly clean the bottom of the bird cage. 
She opened the cage door and turned the vacuum on. The canary began
 flitting about and making shrieking sounds.
  
The phone rang!  While reaching for it, the hand holding the vacuum 
swung up a little. She heard a whooshing sound and then, there was no 
sound from the bird. It had been sucked up by the vacuum cleaner.

Horrified, she quickly turned the vacuum off, tore open the vacuum bag,
and was relieved to see movement midst all the dirt, dust, and
seeds she'd vacuumed up.
She rushed to the sink, filled it with dish soap, gently put the bird into 
the water and began washing it as best she could.
Once she got the canary rinsed off, she saw that it was shivering.
   "Oh, you poor thing." she muttered, and went to get the hair dryer.

She'd mentioned her experience to a neighbor, who told the local 
newspaper. A reporter, following up the story, went to ask how her 
canary was doing.
     "He's not the same really,"she said. " He mostly sits on the perch 
and stares. I no longer get to hear his song."

And that, dear hearts, is just how it is with you and me. 
We are confronted by an unexpected storm, and before we know it,
like the canary, our song too is silenced. Our trials change us too.
They steal our zest for life. We find  we no longer sing, whistle, or
hum like we used too. We become spectators in life instead of participators.
Trials weaken our faith, destroy our confidence, drain what little bit
of strength we have, and too often leave us with little, or no 
hope.

How do we make it through a storm? We make it by remembering not
who we are but WHOSE we are. We make it by feeding on God's Word,
memorizing the promises he made to us. It is those promises that 
will get us through the rough waters, will see us safely to the shore.

We make it by helping one another; by not allowing ourselves to
fall back into the habit of isolating ourselves. We make it by taking
the Lord at HIS Word, remembering that His promises are never
broken. Unlike the promises we make, HIS are dependable; are
promises we can always depend upon.

"Deuteronomy 31:6 " 

"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of
them  for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; 
he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

One of my favorite Bible verses is "Joshua 1:5

"There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days
of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not
fail thee, nor forsake thee."
   How can I possibly be worried, fearful, sad, depressed, or anything 
else negative with this promise to hold onto? I depended upon, 
and leaned on my mother and father. They died!
 
I leaned on my sister. She died! I leaned on, and depended upon people 
I believed loved me ,and had my best interest at heart.
Some died! Some betrayed me - turned out to be my enemies.

 I have friends and family that love me very much.
 But I know better than to depend upon them for those things
I hunger for like: inner peace, a strong and mighty faith, a
 relationship with Jesus, and one day- eternal life.
 Nobody can give me that except He who 
created me. 

Storms of life will come; many of them. But we do not have to
fear them. If we are the Lord's, we will never...not one time, 
have to face a trial alone. No matter where it is, no matter what
the trial is, how painful, how sad, how overwhelming...even
death; Jesus has promised that he will be with us to the very end.
We cannot trust many people. But we CAN trust the LORD. If we
cannot trust the one who created us...who then can we trust?

Stay strong my friends. Hold tight to the Lord's hand when in 
trouble and he will not fail you.

Memorize Joshua 1: 5 and this one:
Joshua 1:9 
"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of
a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed: for the LORD they God is with thee
withersoever thou goest."

                               
May you every day experience the honor of HIS presence,
the warmth of His love, and the tightness of His embrace.

Love you much.
Barb