With every part of his 4 year old body covered with pillows, I tried to reason with all I could see of him. Big eyes poking out from the pillow fortress.
“I’m scared of it,” his voice a shaky whisper.
“Why are you scared of it?” I countered back.
“I don’t know. I just am,” came the pillow muted response.
“Come with me. I’m going to show you something cool,” I said as I pried him from the safety barrier of throw pillows.
Out on the front porch I went with the 4 year old boy and side by side we sat and watched the black clouds begin to roll in. As the thunder continued to roll across the sky and the winds started, he proclaimed his fear again.
“Do you know what thunder is?” I asked and wide eyes grew wider as another round shook around the house.
I told him to hold his hands up and imagine they were clouds. Then I told him to bump his palms together in a clap. He began to giggle as he clapped his hands over and over. The next rumble from the clouds didn’t scare him, he just clapped right back.
The winds began to pick up as the sky got darker and darker. The lightning could be seen in the distance as the clouds thundered louder. I looked over at him and noticed he was smiling.
“See you aren’t scared now that you understand…” I said to him.
“No, I’m not scared because you aren’t,” he confided.
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Last Sunday our pastor was talking about the story where Jesus climbs in a boat with His disciples and a furious storm comes up. The disciples are scared and feel as though Jesus doesn’t care. When they seek Him out and accuse Him as such; He goes out and with a few words tells the storm to stop. Then He turns and asks them, “Why were you so scared? Why didn’t you have any faith?”
It’s quite silly when you think about it. Jesus is the son of God. God created the heavens, Earth and waters on the Earth. Of course He can control the raging sea and storms. Yet the disciples allowed their fear of the Earthly dangers overpower the knowledge that they were with the One who could calm it with His voice.
How many times are we in a storm in our lives that we feel alone and that God isn’t there? We cower in fear of the raging storm around us and cringe in terror of the unknown. Yet, He controls the storms and knows we are in them.
As I sat there with my stepson watching the storm come in; his words rang in my ears. He wasn’t scared because he now understood meteorology. He wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared.
As storms have passed through my own life, I was scared and didn’t understand. How could I have weathered those storms differently had I acknowledged that God who was in those storms with me wasn’t afraid of them? He knew the outcome. He may have chosen not to still the storm, but He had the power to still my heart. I could sit in peace watching the storm blow around me knowing that I was with the One who could stop the storm in my heart with a word.
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Alycia Neighbours 
I wish I had realized this a long time ago. I don’t know why the words that caught my attention was “He’s already walked the path before you and waiting at the end.” Perhaps I wasn’t ready? Perhaps I had more to learn to be able to humbly submit to Him? Perhaps I had to lose some of that stubborn “I can do it myself” so prevalent in all of my children, lol.
I love the clap thing. I wish I would have thought of that. It’s much better than bowling or rearranging heaven. LOL.
Your words are always inspiring! I don’t know you at all but I love your writing and I know your heart! What a wonderful thing that you came into this childs life in the midst of your own storm, He certainly controls it all!