Calm And Storm
Dimple Belousson
Welcome to my Friends and Fellowship Serenity Summer Soiree. Each week during the months of June, July, and August plan to enjoy meeting some of my favorite writing friends and fellowship around the goodness of the Lord. This week, we are encouraged by my sweet friend and devotional writer, Lisa Blair, as she reminds us Jesus is the calm in the storms of life.
I have experienced the loss of key relationships, accompanied by the refusal to reconcile. In the beginning, the betrayal brought grief, but as I continued to give my broken heart to the Lord, He brought healing, forgiveness, and peace.
The disciples were in the presence of Jesus, yet they still experienced the physical storm. Even though we live in His Presence, we will experience loss through the storms of life. The question becomes how will we respond when the storms arrive.
The disciples accused Jesus of not caring. They surrendered their heart to the turmoil, anxiety, and fear of the storm. They were overwhelmed! Jesus remained calm, at rest, and in peace. Jesus embodied serenity.
Where are we in our current storm? Is our heart in turmoil, anxious and fearful, while accusing God of not caring for us? Or is our heart calm, at rest, and in peace while giving thanks to the Lord for His goodness? We can experience serenity in the storms of our lives.
How do we walk in serenity amid the storm? We give thanks and worship Him for Who He is; we lean into God through His Word and we stand on His promises to us as His Beloved; and we come to the Lord in prayer.
Lisa, I have been reading this account for over a week as it has been bringing the reminder to return to the foundational truths, tried and true. It is amazing how God blankets us in His peace, giving us all we need to weather any storms of life. May the Lord continue to provide all you and your husband need!
My husband is talking about retiring sometime within the next year or so. Though he has made provision for us, I have to admit the drastic drop in income makes me a little antsy. I have to remind myself our provision always comes from God, whether through a job or another means.
Lisa, this is so heartfelt, and prayers for you and your husband. Thank you for sharing how to have peace in our storms as we know they will come but we also know we have the peace of Jesus to calm us.
Thank you, Lisa, for showing us how leaning into God gives us His calm and peace to navigate the storms of our lives. What blessings He bestows on us when we take His word into our heart, mind, and soul.
On a recent trip to the coast, my family and I witnessed a massive tempest one evening. As the wind whipped my face, I watched bulbous clouds rise high into the eggplant sky. Thunder and lightning tangoed, delighting our eyes and ears. The sea churned and lashed with such ferocity that it looked like it would never return to serenity.
The wind of broken relationships that batters the heart.
The water of unmet expectations that floods the soul.
The waves of broken dreams that pummel the mind with thoughts like this will never pass.
3. The storm can deepen our faith. Our storms inflict pain, but they also churn up false beliefs, idols and other hindrances to our sanctification. With these obstacles removed, faith can flourish, and trust can deepen. Our eyes may see only wreckage, but God sees His tireless work of redemption on our behalf. On the Sea of Galilee, Jesus used the storm to call His disciples into a life of deeper trust. From the eye of the storm, He calls us into the same.
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There is a lot of un-predictability in the weather these days. Whether you choose to believe in Global Warming or not, the fact of the matter is that we are experiencing a lot of extreme storms lately, which has been bringing a lot of extreme rain, winds and even tornadoes with them. We must be alert, aware, prepared and engaged and ready to respond appropriately. Our own safety and security depends on it.
From that still place right inside the storm, all the horrible luck, the stress, the pain, the shame, the loss, begins to reveal itself to me as an incomprehensibly perfect, intricately choreographed rearrangement of the universe, meant specifically to do one thing: Fulfill my longing.
Love love love this! As a recovered alcoholic whose storms got worse and worse over the years, I can now see how all the heartache was meant to get me to the spiritually awakened place I am today and I'm here to help and teach other struggling women. I love and identify to immensely with Martha and her teachings
Ever listen to people after a storm or other disaster? The ones who do best are the ones who focus on what they learned about what was truly important and see the storm as a tool, maybe even a blessing.
A fellow blogger shared this talking about her miscarriage and having gone through my own miscarriage 7 weeks ago after 4 rounds of DEIVF, this couldn't have come at a better time to read. My husband and I discussed the storms we've weathered and what's come from them. How my father's untimely death led to the creation of my blog (which is how I first met my husband, then one of my readers). How his father's death led to learning that his mother had lied for decades about who his estranged father really was as a man (he was a much better, warmer, sober man than his narcissistic mother had portrayed him to be, who'd desperately wanted to be part of my husband's life. How our struggle with infertility has shown us what's most important in our lives, the delicate balance of focusing on our marriage while also putting my body through hell, and how it's strengthened and confirmed our desire to have a family. But we have no true answers yet as we are still in the storm, preparing for a fifth FET (and for those who bring up adoption, we were told just before our miscarriage by our adoption agency we've been involved with for a year that it would be another 2-4 years' wait for a child, and to start over would cost another $15-20K which we do not have).
This has come at a perfect time for me to read. For whatever reason, call it devine intervention if you want, that I clicked on a link in FB and found this profound video about the Storm. I am in the worst storm season I have ever had I my life. My 20 year relationship/marriage with who I thought was my soul mate for life has come to an abrupt halt under horrible circumstances! The worst pain I have ever felt in my life, or at least that's what I thought up until about 2 hours ago.
I am so ready for the calm to come for me, but I realized while reading this for the fourth time I am hour that I can sit and wait until the cows come home and calm will never find me. I must go find it! That's exactly what I intend on doing. It maybe only for a minute today, but I am going to hunt it down like a I know that tomorrow will never come. Thank you
AS a survivor of many storms, I have come out of each one stronger and more determined. This is how my mindset coaching practice came to be. I can help others find their safe place in their learning world of storms.
This magically showed up on my own facebook life coaching page just when I needed it today. I could have used it on the day it was published, but I was still in the storm, looking for the eye. As usual, perfectly stated! Thanks, Martha!
What is it that makes me get these messages just when I most need them? This was such a comforting piece and it arrived just as I was about to sink into despair, yet again. That metaphor of being God`s cockroach was spot on. Thats me! The cockroach! I must remember that this IS the storm before the calm. The calm is there. I must have faith. Thank you so much Martha! Your admirer and promoter in Finland
Thanks Martha, with this knowledge, I will surely navigate to the storm's eye with ease from here on out. I am already looking forward to the next one. It's going to be a walk in the park. Yummy yummy yummy.
This is dope. The calm before the storm. I really like that. I agree, it can be quite difficult to see it that way sometimes. But, can be very beneficial to your growth as a person. Dope. Dope. Dope. Makes me want to read more of your work.
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As a child, my family and I would travel to Emerald Isle, NC, every summer. It was the highlight of my year. We would walk to the beach every day, buggy board, and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the sand. My family and I have made some wonderful and life long memories at Emerald Isle. One summer, however, there was a massive storm at night. It started as a regular thunderstorm, but we soon realized something was different when we felt our rental house swaying side to side. There was lightning and thundering, and waves crashing. Like most beach houses, this one was built on stilts, so it was high up. This allowed the house to move and give way to high winds like we experienced this particular night. Still, this beach house could only take so much. I looked over at my cousin, who was sharing a room with me, and she was visibly afraid. I sat by her bed and read Psalm 91, a scripture I've seen shared a lot lately. The words jumped off the page and eased our worried minds as we waited for the storm to pass.
I think a storm is an accurate depiction of what many of us are facing in this season. Feeling pushed around by winds of life, out of control while the waves of our circumstances come crashing in, blinded by the unknown, and flooded by fear.
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