Dear Kitty,

I’m a weather nut. Well, not all weather, because snow/ice is just unnatural to want to embrace as humans, but specifically storms. If there isn’t a good spring storm on my personal horizon, I’ve been known to stalk the weather of my friends in different states or play the sounds of a storm on my speakers.

Told you I was a nut and that’s only one quirk I have…there is hundreds. We don’t need to go there though.

When the conditions start lining up for a good storm, I start watching the radar. I go outside, look at the clouds shifting and pull up meteorological data while I am waiting. I make sure flashlights and candles are accessible and if it gets too bad, shove stuff that is stored in the storm shelter to make way for kids and dogs.

The kids know I keep radars on my phone and other devices and often we will watch the images moving closer to our city. We discuss the intensity, how large the system is and when it will pass. We are informed and prepared on all fronts (<- a little weather humor for you)

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a radar image for our own personal storms that we have to weather? So we could see it coming, know the intensity and know how long we will have to endure. How helpful would that be?

Got a little secret for you (although its not really a secret) You have that assurance and warning system if you reach into faith.

This is life. Storms are going to come, like it or not. You will have to weather them if you want to see the sun again. Some will be fairly gentle and others might blow your roof off, unearth some trees and leave you standing amidst destruction. It's the nature of a storm. It's the nature of life.

So there is your warning. It's going to happen to you or someone who directly affects you.

Our assurance though, is that our lives are covered in an embrace the worst storm can't break. Our faith that can reach beyond our circumstances promises us that despite the deafening thunder and striking lightning, we are sheltered safely in love. A promise that no matter the devastation left behind, you can rebuild with hope.

I've had some storms blow through my life that essentially blew my house right off me, leaving me standing in nothingness and wondering "How you can you rebuild with nothing left? There isn’t even a shred of what was mine left to start with!”

All that was left was “Me.” You know what though, that’s all that was needed to start over again after the storm. A single person with little left to say “I’m ready to start again.”

One thing nature has taught us about storms is that no matter how intense, big and scary they are, no matter the damage that they can; they don’t last forever. Gradually the winds calm down, the rain tapers off and the dark clouds begin to ease from your horizon. As you stand there in the middle of what was left, the sun will begin to warm your shoulders again. That’s how it is with nature. That’s how it is with faith.

Categories: faith

Tags: assurance, Faith, promise, storms, weathering storms in our life