Broken To BlessedSample

  

The Storm’s Surrounding Me

It’s one of those nights again. I sigh as I reach for my phone on the gray nightstand beside my bed. I squint as the numbers 2:45 glare at me as if to mock me. I have tossed and turned for the last time and so I decide to get up.

Downstairs, I boil water for some hot chocolate and shuffle toward the family room that is dimly lit by one small table lamp. I place my hot chocolate down and wrap my favorite pale green blanket around me as I sit on the beige couch. The hot chocolate burns my tongue a bit, and I hear my dog’s small paws clickety-clacking down the stairs. 

I smile when I see him, and without missing a beat, he jumps on to the couch and wraps his tiny body into a ball on my lap, exhales, and closes his eyes.

These sleepless nights are becoming more frequent. I feel like I am in the middle of a mess and I just want things to go back to normal. As I hold on to my mug, the dog snuggled tightly beside me, I ask God why I must endure this storm.

I pray and it remains.

I read my Bible and it remains.

I stay obedient to my ministry and encourage others through my words, yet it remains.

I am in a storm and it is a big one. I am like a boat that is being broken by relentless wind and waves that push it hard against the dock. The storm feels like a hurricane. My mind drifts to images of a hurricane, but God is showing me the eye.

If you are in the eye, you don’t even realize there is a storm surrounding you. In the eye there is light. In the eye there is quiet. In the eye there is peace.

For me, peace is one of the fruits of the spirit I don’t have on my table. I am hungry for it, but I can’t find it. Jesus gently whispers to me that he is Jehovah Shalom—our peace; my peace.

Peace doesn’t mean that the trouble is gone. The peace that Christ offers us is meant to help us endure the storm before we are overcome by it.

I have yet to receive the answer to my “why”, but I try and focus on what God is offering me—his peace. For now, it is enough to help me find rest and to fall asleep.

If you are going through a storm, I pray you would find the gift of peace that is found in Christ alone. I pray you would search and find him in the eye of the hurricane.