"For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." 1 Corinthians 14:33
There are three ingredients needed to create a thunderstorm: moisture, rising unstable air and the lift of air. During the day, the sun heats the surface of the earth, which warms the air above it.
When the air rises, it transfers the Earth's heat to the upper levels of the atmosphere. The air contains water vapors which begin begin to cool, releasing heat to condense and form a cloud. The cloud continues to grow upward into areas of the atmosphere where it is freezing cold. At some point, different types of ice particles in the atmosphere grow by condensing vapor and gathering smaller liquid drops that haven't frozen yet. When ice particles collide, they strike against each other, creating electric charges. After many collisions build up, large areas of electricity create a bolt of lightning and their crashing is the sound of thunder.
I've been trying to figure out what God wants me to write for a couple days. Praying and reading my BIble in the midst of confusion. He pointed out a few things, but I've been in a slump. I get that way sometimes. This time it is because of all the rain and also distractions from work and home.
Rain? Storm clouds? Maybe that's the key to today's writing....
At work, I am often on a raft all alone, engulfed by harsh words, torrents of tension and distractions that pull me into undercurrents away from where I want to be - on dry land, safe and secure in my Faith. I have to decompress when I get home and sometimes it is difficult when your heart takes on that chaos of the day.
At home, I'm co-captain of this ship. I'm a wife and mother with responsibilities and waves of overstimulation: distractions about dinner, reading homework, cleaning and finances. I feel like my brain has 50 tabs open at all times.
While I am muddling along with devotional ideas, winding down after dinner, snapping at my child to drink more water, and trying to figure out how to construct my next painting, I somehow have multiple songs streaming through my head. A good friend of mine who leads the music at our church played the first song this past Sunday, which I hadn't heard in years, Flood by Jars of Clay:
"Rain rain on my faceIt hasn't stoppedRaining for daysMy world is a floodSlowly I becomeOne with the mud...." from Jars of Clay, Flood
The second, is Casting Crowns, I will Praise You in this Storm:
I'll praise You in this stormAnd I will lift my handsFor You are who You areNo matter where I amAnd every tear I've criedYou hold in Your handYou never left my sideAnd though my heart is tornI will praise You in this storm..."
Coincidence that both songs are about the storms of life and I am here sitting in a stupor of confusion and exhaustion? I doubt it. God is always talking in one way or another even when I can't seem to listen.
Both songs speak to me in different ways: Flood is powerful and I can kind of, "rock out" like the grunge days of my youth while also interpreting the message as using the flood of Genesis to communicate God’s rescuing us from the mud: our guilt, shame, and sin, to bring glory to Him.
While Praise you in this Storm reminds me to remember to continue to thank God for his goodness and grace even in times I can't seem to - when it's hard to think, in times of struggle, sadness or pain.
In Mark 4:37-41, there was a terrible storm that rocked the boat carrying Jesus and the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was asleep in the stern and the disciples were afraid for their lives. They woke Him to ask if he cared that they might die.
Just like the disciples discovered on the boat, we can also come to the realization that Jesus calms the storm. “Who is this,” the disciples wondered, “even the wind and the waves obey him!”
It’s hard to praise God during the storms of life, but God wants us to rejoice in Him even when we’re trying to stay afloat.
Painting: The Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt van Rijn
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