The fury of the storm rolled through around midnight, waking me from a sound sleep. Sharp cracks of thunder and bright lightening got rid of the last bit of fogginess in my brain. I am wide awake and alert.
I am a storm watcher. When I was seven years old, a violent F5 tornado devastated our community. It demolished our church, a shopping center and several homes. I grew up practicing tornado drills in school. I was taught that tornados sound like a freight train coming through town, whistle blowing. I know what to listen for during a storm.
As an adult, my fear of intense storms has quieted. However, I am prepared to take shelter when I feel it is necessary. Tonight, it may be necessary: our area is under a tornado watch. But it is warm and cozy under the covers, and I hesitate to jump up and fall to my knees in the hall, doing my best tornado drill pose. I convince myself that it is just a little thunderstorm.
The thunder rattles the walls and the rain is blowing directly into the window. Wind whistles between the house and nearby workshop. It sounds like our house is about to blow off the foundation, like Dorothy’s home in The Wizard of Oz. It sounds like a freight train…
I jump out of bed and hurry to the living room window. I am amazed when I enter the room. It is calm and quiet. I look out at the storm, and see normal rainfall coming down, not the monsoon I had envisioned in the bedroom. The wind is more like a heavy breeze, instead of the F5 tornado I heard in the bedroom! What a difference! My fears calm, and I return to bed to sleep soundly through the night.
The storms of my life are like that. The wind is blowing, the rain is pouring, and thunder drowns out all other noise. It is chaos, and all I hear is the sound of the storm, the freight train barreling straight for me. The tornado can’t be stopped. The debris of my life will be scattered all over.
It’s hard to step away from the uproar. The wind keeps pulling me right back in. Everything is turbulent – my thoughts, my emotions.
What if I walked away, into a different room? And looked out a different window? What if I stepped into the shelter of Christ’s strong arms and watched the tornado?
What if I whispered His powerful name….Jesus.
And He answered “Peace, Be still!” And the wind stopped and it became calm (Mark 4:39).
Jesus said we would have trouble. He won’t make my storms go away, but He will carry me through them. With Christ’s presence in the storms of my life, the calm will come. HE will be my peace!
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.” (NASB)
Linking up today with Holly Gerth Coffee for Your Heart!
Photography by John Chauvin
I so appreciate your thoughts here today, Julie. How true, all I hear in the storm is my chaos and if I would just run to the only One who can calm the storm, how much better off I would be. Thank you for the reminder! Blessings, Meredith
Thanks for stopping by Meredith!
Ellen, I love your analogy to the storms. How beautiful to turn our attention to Our Blessed Lord Who is our only salvation! Thank you and please thank John for his beautiful photographs! They are jaw droppingly gorgeous!
Michael
Thanks for stopping by! I honestly think John’s pictures make the blog! It is fun going through them to find just the right ones…
I love that John 16 scripture. Also the one that says, “Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (My sketchy paraphrase!)
Love that scripture! Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful Ellen!
Thank you Wanda! Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you Wanda! Thanks for visiting!
I, too, grew up with the tornado drills. When we lived in Little Rock we had the tornado sirens in all the neighborhoods. I would grab pillows and we would all head to the hall bath with stuffed animals and my Bible. Your writings bring back such memories for me. And, John’s photography brings such life to your blog. You two make a great team!!! Love you!
Thank you Trulie! I think it’s no coincidence that the Bible Belt is also Tornado Alley! We did a lot of praying during those drills!
Yes indeed!!! 🙂
Thank you for the reminder. The pics are great! God didn’t just create us and walk away…He is still here walking with us. So sweet!
Thanks so much for your comment and for stopping by!
Changing our focus (or direction) can bring us into the calm room where Jesus is. Wow that was something to hear what sounded like freight train in the bedroom and in the kitchen there was peace, just a nice rain. Thank you for sharing your wonderful post with us here at “Tell Me a Story.” At: http://letmetelluastory.blogspot.com/
Thank YOU Hazel!
I love how when Jesus walks on water he doesn’t stop the storm, but comes to them in the midst of the storm. You are right; His name is so powerful. We can’t even comprehend it. Thanks for sharing, Ellen. The pictures were perfect!
Thank you Abby! I do believe that John’s pix “make” the blog! I’ve always wanted to “do” something with his pictures. My thought was to create a Prayer Journal using his pictures and scripture I put together. I never dreamed it would be writing this blog 🙂 !
Storms are an excellent visual of what our thoughts feel like when experiencing inner turmoil… The emotional toil this fear takes on our life is real. What a wonderful way to express how we can step back from the situation and focus on God to calm the storms of life.
Ellen, you have been given a beautiful gift of putting your thoughts into words so that our focus returns to Him! Thank you for for sharing with us <3
Thank you Debbie, for all your encouragement! I appreciate you stopping by!
Thank you Debbie, for all your encouragement! I appreciate you stopping by!