Posts Tagged ‘storms of life’

A Speaker’s Confession

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

I hate it when I get soppy while speaking to a women’s group. Trouble is, I just can’t help it sometimes.

Last evening I spoke to a group of about 30 women. We’d met to videotape session 4 for the DVD series based on Moving From Fear to Freedom.  The title was “Facing the Storms of Life” and I wanted to encourage them not to seek to avoid the storms but to learn to dance in the rain. The only way that’s possible, I believe, is to know Jesus Christ and cling to His promises.

And so, I closed the evening with Isaiah 43:1,2,4,5. “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you, I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you….You are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you. Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”

Everything went well until I reached the part about the flames, and that’s when it hit me. Looking over the audience, I saw the faces of several women experiencing storms right now, and my heart broke for them. The pain of cancer, prodigal kids, divorce, abuse….it’s all there. My voice choked up and I couldn’t continue. It seemed like forever until I could speak, and when I did, words came from my mouth that I hadn’t anticipated saying.

“I know that some of you are going through storms right now. I want to make myself available to you to talk or pray, so I’ll sit at the back of this room. Come see me there, if you like.” Three women responded. God was at work, doing something good apart from my script. Imagine that.

This morning I struggle with mixed feelings. The choked voice, the pause, the struggle to regain my composure – it’s all on videotape. Part of me wrestles with feelings of failure as a speaker. The other part says to let it go and just let God do what He wants. His heart breaks for the pain these women carry, too. The good news is that He wants to heal them, to fill their hearts with peace and joy, to free them from their fears….to teach them to dance in the rain. And I’m trusting that He’ll do it regardless of my weaknesses and foibles.

These verses from Isaiah are so powerful. I pray that God will use them to accomplish His purposes in the lives of these precious women and those who will watch the video series when it’s released. I pray that they’ll bless you today, too, my friend.

Is there any part of these verses that’s particularly meaningful to you today?

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Fear and the Storms of Life

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

What’s with the fear issue? Seems that’s all I read about when I open my Bible these days. Maybe God’s trying to tell me something, ya think?

Yesterday I read about sailors whose ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged to the depths. These men cringed in terror, reeling and staggering like drunks. The storm drove them to their wits’ end where they cried, “Lord, help!”

And He did. “He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor!” (Psalm 107:26-30).

Several years ago I wrote a “Drama in Real Life” story for Reader’s Digest. I interviewed two men who’d survived a fishing boat accident off Vancouver Island. My blood ran cold as they described the storm they’d encountered at sea – howling winds and frigid waves that towered several stories high, tossing their boat like a bathtub toy and eventually sucking it beneath the water’s murky depths. The men’s terror matched the sailors’ fear as expressed in the Psalms. So did their cries for help.

It’s not only sailors at sea who experience storms that leave them at wits’ end. Landlubbers do, too – homemakers, office professionals, clergy, teachers, nurses, students, single moms….the list goes on indefinitely. I know several women my age and younger who are battling end-stage cancers right now. I know others who are reeling from marriage breakups or staggering under the weight of their kids making lousy choices with lifelong consequences. They’re at their wit’s end and crying, “Lord, help!”

And He does. Sometimes He calms the storm immediately; sometimes not. But regardless of the wind and waves of our circumstances, He can calm the storm that rages in our minds and our emotions.

The enemy of our souls wants to keep us entrenched and immobilized by fear. But God wants to fill us with courage, to calm our anxious thoughts, and to set us free from fear’s power. Every time I feel afraid, I call, “Lord, help!” I remind myself that His love for me never fails. I find courage in remembering His faithfulness to me in the past, and I find peace in reciting truth such as, “God has promised to never leave or forsake me, and He’s bigger than any storm I will ever encounter.” My circumstances might not change immediately, but I experience a blessed stillness within.

Have you experienced a storm in life? If not, I want to know your strategy for storm evasion. If so, how did you survive?

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