Trusting God Through the Storm

How to go through the storms of life

and still serve God in ministry

In studying this topic I couldn’t help but look at the life and ministry of Jesus and His example to the disciples. Just as I have seen in my own life, when you make a vow to follow God, there is no shortage of storms and trials. No sooner than Jesus was baptized was He also led into the wilderness for 40 days where He endured temptation from the enemy. However, every time the enemy persisted, Jesus answered him with the Word of God.

Since Jesus was a human being, I believe His faith was tested during the wilderness experience. After 40 days of fasting Jesus had to be hungry and weary. Satan offered him what His body longed for, but instead of giving in to the flesh, Jesus used the authority He had as the Son of God. This was a lesson that He soon passed on to the disciples. They had left their families and occupations to follow Jesus, but one day they found themselves in a boat in the middle of a storm. They were fearful for their lives as their ship seemed to be consumed by the waves, but in the midst of it all, Jesus was asleep. Jesus, whose faith was strong and steadfast in the Lord, asked, “Why are you fearful, oh you of little faith?” The disciples had to learn what Jesus already knew – they served a God who commanded the wind and the waves. (Matthew 8:23-27)

I received another glimpse of how Jesus handled the storms of life while ministering to God’s people when I studied Matthew chapter 14. Several things happened in this chapter. First, John the Baptist was beheaded at the request of King Herod’s niece on behalf of her mother. In Matthew’s account, John’s disciples buried his body and took the news to Jesus. According to Luke, John the Baptist was a relative of Jesus, as well as the man who baptized Him and prepared the way for people to receive Him as the Messiah. For John’s disciples to deliver news of his death to Jesus this signifies the relationship that these men had. When Jesus received the news, Matthew says He went away to be by Himself. I believe He was troubled by it and perhaps wanted to go away to pray.

However, the multitudes of people followed Jesus and when He saw them, the Word says He had compassion for them. In that moment, He had to put His feelings aside, even His desire to be alone with God, and He ministered to the needs of the people. In the midst of whatever Jesus was feeling that made Him want to be alone, He ministered healing to the sick people in that multitude and then miraculously He fed so many people with only five loaves of bread and two fish.

What I see in this situation, is that Jesus put His feelings and desires aside to fulfill the work of the ministry. He was about His Father’s business and did not have time to lament and be sorrowful when life did not go the way He may have wanted it to. He kept His eyes on God and His focus on His God-given purpose. After He took care of the people that evening and they began to leave, Jesus sent the disciples away and had His delayed time alone with God to pray. Later that night, Jesus caught up to the disciples by walking on the water toward their boat. This is when Peter attempted to do the same, but found that his faith was not there yet. Prior to Jesus’ arrival the wind had been tossing the boat back and forth but when He got into the boat with them, the wind ceased. The disciples worshipped Him saying “Truly, You are the Son of God.” The disciples recognized Him by the authority He exercised as God’s Son. In the midst of stressful times, in the midst of the storm, Jesus was quietly calm, confident and assured of who He was and who was in control.

Similar to our Lord Jesus, we demonstrate that we are God’s children by the way we respond to the storms of life. Even when Jesus knew the hour was soon coming for Him to give up His life, He went to God in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and submitted Himself to God’s will. When we know who we are and whose we are, we know that our lives are in God’s hands and there is no need to fall apart when the winds blow. We recently witnessed how tornados have swept across the country bringing death and destruction in certain areas. As children of God, we know that even in the midst of chaos, God receives the glory. Even if certain things in our lives seem out of place, we know that God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways. He sees the full picture and He knows how it will all come together in the end. With this assurance, we don’t need to waste time worrying about things that are beyond our control. Like Jesus, we should respond to life’s situations with the Word of God and prayer. Instead of worrying, we can spend our energy doing the work that God has given our hands to do. We can minister to God’s people from a place of peace and love, rather than from a place of flesh and confusion.

Psalm 107:23-32

(New King James Version)

²³ Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
²⁴ They see the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep.
²⁵ For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
²⁶ They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
²⁷ They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
²⁸ Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
²⁹ He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
³⁰ Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
³¹ Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
³² Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.

Are You God’s Gift? Part I

When you think about the person you want to be in relationship with, what characteristics come to mind? God-fearing, humorous, adventurous, responsible, kind, respectful, thoughtful, good-looking, intelligent, charming or what?

No matter how varied our individual lists may be, we all want the most important and basic thing - we want someone who will love us. We want that unconditional love that will look beyond our past, our faults, and our ugliness and only see the beauty, the power and the potential. We want to rest, knowing that we are safe and secure in the arms of one who will never abuse us or turn us away.

Those who wait on God to reveal their soul mate realize that every good and perfect thing comes from the Lord, so that person is worth the wait.

The question I want to pose to you, whether you are in a relationship, seeking a relationship, waiting on a relationship or already married is - are you that good and perfect gift for your soul mate?

Here are some ways to tell if you are God's gift:

I Corinthians 13 says, "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres."

Do you love as Christ loves the Church? Are you patient, loving and kind?

Or are you envious, boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking and easily angered? Do you keep record of other people's wrongs?

Now of course when you fantasize and think of your future mate, it can be very easy to say "Yes, I'm ready! I know how to love."

It is easy to love when things are going exactly the way we want them to go. However, do you know how to love when it comes to that person who always rubs you the wrong way? What about the ex that always knows exactly what to say to get your blood boiling? That cousin that is just loud for no reason? That aunt who is always comparing you to her kids? What about those parents who you blame for all of your issues?

Many of us have people in our lives that we are pretty much stuck with for better or for worse and we didn't even have to walk down an aisle to claim them. These are our family, our children, our bosses, our co-workers and the people whose lives are intertwined with ours for some inescapable reason.

How do you treat those people? Do you hold grudges? Do you avoid them? Do you stop speaking? Do you blow up in anger? Do you hold your tongue while secretly getting more and more upset? Do you find it hard to forgive? Do you yell, slam doors or get revenge?

Now imagine God finally sends you your sweetie and you do all of that stuff to them! That beautiful, gorgeous, handsome, smiling and dimpled gift is unknowingly destined to be the victim of your grudge-holding, passive-aggressive, screaming, yelling, door-slamming self.

You may think this is impossible but the reality is that it happens all the time. It is easy to say we should get over our past romantic relationships and clear away that baggage before we get into a new relationship. However, we forget about the relationships we have that are not in the past yet still negatively affect us. We carry that baggage into our romantic relationships as well. Our mistrust of our other loved ones becomes mistrust of our soul mate. The worries, the fears, the triggers - we carry the garbage we picked up from other relationships and never forgave and we eventually see our God-given gift through those eyes.

When God blessed me with my husband-to-be I soon learned how my past was interfering, even in what was the most wonderful relationship I have ever known. As soon as something happened in my relationship that reminded me of something from my past, those old emotions were stirred and we had a problem. I was not free to fully love and accept my fiancée until I forgave and released all of the wrongs that I thought I had already left behind. I had to let those things go in order to fully give him my love. If I had not let those things go, our growth as a couple would have been severely limited. We would not have had a chance to work out any of our real issues because I would have still been fighting against issues from my past.

Forgiveness is a tool that frees you to be able to enjoy your life and enjoy the people in your life. It frees you to love and be loved in return. When you are willing to forgive and walk in love, you become a gift, ready to be released to the one whom God has prepared for you.

***Are You God's Gift? Join the live discussion on Thursday, May 6^th, 2010 at 9pm Eastern when Rachel Renee Griggs hosts the phone chat for http://thepluralthing.com. Log onto the website for details.

Do Not Disturb

"Do not disturb" is the sign hanging on the door. The lights are low and I am caught up, having an intimate moment. He is working out all the kinks in me.

Please do not disturb - this is none of your affair. If you do not belong on this side of the door, do not come knocking. You will be disappointed. Some things cannot be done or undone in front of watchful eyes. There are times when it is necessary for Love to call you away and reconnect. Now is that time.

Now is not the time for you to push your agenda for me. Now is not the time for you to speak. Do not attempt to interrupt the flow. If you have to knock and push on the door that means you have not been invited in or granted access.

Please leave. I state it gently but I mean it with all the fire and strength of heaven. Don't make me say it again.

My life depends on what happens in this place of intimacy. It is an understatement to say this is a critical time in my life. The forces of hell did not want this time to come. They would love to crash this party but it is too late for that.

This is not only critical for me, it is urgent for those who will come after me and those who depend on me now.

Do not disturb me. I need to focus on my Lord. I need Him now more than ever. I need Him to reach deep on the inside and wash away the dirt, the stains and the residue of a broken past. I need Him to get rid of those things that can't be easily seen, heard or felt but still bring death and destruction nonetheless.

Lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil.

Lord please fill me with Your Light, Your Love, Your Holiness. Purify me. Wash me again and again with Your Love. I will not stray.

There is no other place I want or need to be, but safe in Your arms - the door closed to the world - and safe - in Your arms.

Sign on the Dotted Line

As I enter the final stretch of classes before completing my MBA, I realize that my blogger and student personalities will undoubtedly collide. I was reading an article for class about how banks increasingly demand additional business from corporations who seek short-term financing. Company A wants a loan and Bank Number 1 says, sure we'll give you a loan, but you have to open this checking account as well. What started as an intention for a short-term financial arrangement came with the price tag of a long-term, committed, banking relationship.

As I reviewed my notes from the article, all I could see was how a person gets started on the road of bondage and how "the wages of sin are death". Think about some of the most compromising situations you have gotten yourself into. I say "gotten yourself" because too often we blame "the devil" for something we did with both eyes wide open! Let's give credit where it's due! We too often are our own worst enemies when it comes to getting ourselves messed up.

So there you are with a decision to make. You can do what you know will feel good for a moment but carries an infinite number of consequences, or you can avoid the situation and stay out of trouble. Let's say you talk yourself into taking the bait, saying you know better, you're strong enough to handle it etc. You decide to take on some temporary fun but next thing you know, you are emotionally attached to something that is tearing your heart up every time you engage in it. The situation has snowballed out of control and you are caught in the middle of it. Now you are shaking your head wondering how you wound up here, again!

I have learned that this is how temptation works. Something you like is presented to you, it has deadly consequences, but it could be disguised as something harmless. There will always be a warning signal that what you are about to do is not going to remain harmless, but if you are hardheaded, you will participate anyway. When you ignore the warning signals you commit yourself to a relationship with sin. Hopefully, you will heed the continued warnings of the Holy Spirit and repent.

I know, unfortunately from experience, that once you have signed on the dotted line, the entities involved may not let you out of your contract so easily. You will try to repent and your emotions will play tricks on you to make you believe that you cannot walk away. Your friends may not understand and get mad at you for turning away from them. The person you have been fooling around with may get mad because you don't want to play anymore.

So what will you do? Will you continue a commitment with sin and shame that you really did not want to begin with? Or will you allow Jesus to make it right? All it takes is your genuine repentance, you turning away from the sinful activities and focusing on the Word of God instead. Hide yourself in God when you feel you are being tempted to make deals with the devil. It's not worth trying to be tough and face it on your own. God is here to help and Jesus already signed the ultimate contract to redeem your life when He sacrificed His own.

“Just Can’t Leave Him Alone”

You know you need to leave. Staying with him is causing you to compromise the essence of who you are and what you believe. You feel that if you stay you may lose yourself forever and become an empty shell of what you used to be. Yet, every time you think you are ready, you find that you just can't leave him alone. Something pulls you back and keeps you wanting more of him, even with the expected cost of your peace, happiness and possibly your self-esteem.

I have been there and I know many women who can say the same. Once you've given your heart, soul, body and everything else you can possibly give you are suddenly bound to this person and you don't even know why. You think you love him but you even question that because you don't like him much anymore. It feels like being with him has you locked in a jail cell and you don't even know how long your sentence is. You wonder when it will end. Will it get better? Will he change? Will I ever be able to walk away for good? You say you're done but you know that you are not in complete agreement with that statement. What will it take to close this chapter forever?

Perhaps you aren't even committed to him, but you enjoy the attention that he gives you. You like having someone to keep you company, take you out and share a meal or fill the silence with sweet words that boost your ego. He's not your man, but you are having so much fun that you don't care. You may not realize the pain you are causing and the way that you are blocking yourself from receiving the relationship that was intended for you.

The truth is, the longer you stay involved with someone who is not good for you, not intended for you, or belongs to someone else, the worse you feel about yourself. You begin to condemn yourself for being in the situation. You harshly judge yourself and begin to wonder if maybe you deserve to be in dysfunctional relationships since you don't seem to know how to change or stay away. You begin to accept the conditions you find yourself in as if they are normal. The longer you stay you start to forget how much of a prize you are. Intellect, beauty, talent – you don't seem to have any. You wonder what happened to it because you had so much potential years ago. You wonder if your life will ever get better.

Too often we give our emotions the power to control our lives. Try observing your emotions without reacting to them. If you are feeling very emotional about something, sit quietly and do nothing. Silently experience the feeling of sadness, anger or happiness. Close your eyes, breathe and watch those emotions rise and fall. Open your eyes. You are still alive! You didn't explode or fade away. You are still here. Our emotions can sometimes give us this urgency that we misinterpret. Emotions are part of life; they can be enjoyable and even helpful as flags that signal us to be cautious, but too often we allow them to drive our actions and reactions without pausing for thought and prayer.

The only thing stopping you from leaving is you. There may come a day when you fully realize this. Most people seem to have a breaking point, but hopefully you can speed up your own process by knowing that you are hurting yourself by prolonging the goodbye. The problem is that being with the person has become a habit. It is now part of your routine and you know that something will feel like it is missing if you leave. That may be true, but what you have to gain by walking away and reclaiming your life will far outweigh whatever it is you think you will miss.

We fear feeling the pain of separation but don't realize that fear is the worst part of the process. Pushing past the fear may be the most difficult step and once you have done it, healing can begin. You may experience a temporary feeling of loss. You have grown accustomed to the relationship and all that it added or subtracted from your life. You may wonder how you will fill the gaps left by the missing person. You may sometimes think you made a mistake in letting them go because you momentarily forgot about how unhappy you were in that jail cell.

This is the part where you need to pray. Acknowledge that you need help and ask God for it. Why lay around for days, weeks or months depressed and miserable over a relationship that was no good for you to begin with? Pray and ask God to give you the strength to never look back and ask Him to take the pain away. Ask Him to fill the voids in your life and give you the help, guidance and support that you need. I have prayed this and God never failed me. He sent all the help I needed not to continue the patterns of brokenness and not to linger in sadness. Since God is no respecter of persons, I know He will do the same for you. Just ask.

After you pray, walk away. Just walk away from the relationship and keep it moving. Take all the necessary steps to remove this person from your life. I wrote about this earlier in The Naked Wolf posting – delete his information, delete the photos, ignore the calls and get authorities involved if he won't respect your wishes to cease contact. It gets easier to separate yourself from the moment you commit to doing it. The Lord will help with the rest if you ask Him. Don't allow your emotions or the other person's emotions for that matter to push you around. You deserve peace, happiness and a full life, now go ahead and claim it!

I also encourage you to seek support. Do not isolate yourself; rather look for resources that will build you up. An excellent resource that changed my life is The Plural Thing.com. Membership is free but the experience is priceless. ;-) For other information related to this blog post, click here: Soul Ties: An In-Depth Look

Beautiful

Do you know how beautiful you are? The light in your eyes and the brightness of your smile warm the coldest night. Your bold features are painted on the lovely canvas of your sun-kissed skin. Your hands are golden as if everything you touch will become the same. Your body was sculpted from a mountain; you stand from a position of authority and strength. Peace and humility rest on your shoulders like morning dew, evidence of time spent praying with Him in the garden.

How precious you are! If you saw what I see you would never doubt it again. You would never let them treat you that way if you knew what I know. You would never accept less than God’s best if you felt what I feel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You have accomplished much and there is so much yet for you to do. Do not look to the left or to the right. I did not create you to be like them. You are one of a kind, uniquely beautiful by My standards and nothing could ever take that away. Look at yourself. Those eyes, that nose, those lips, that hair - Beautiful. Look deeper. That mind, that heart, that soul, all thirsty for more of Me - Beautiful. I love you in every way. I cherish every part of you. All I want to do is be with you. Come with me into the garden, Beautiful. You are so precious, My Love.

Arise

This morning I thought about how we celebrated Resurrection Sunday and the awesome sacrifice that Jesus made just so that we could have a personal relationship with Father God. Then I was overwhelmed with happiness as I began to think of how my life has changed since I entered into a closer relationship with the Lord.

I thought about how even though I have always loved God, I never trusted Him enough to be fully in charge of my life. I always tried to do things my way. I learned to trust Him with my finances, with my health and the health of my child. It was easy to pray and seek Him on those things. I saw those matters as beyond my control, therefore I had to put it in His hands. However, concerning relationships, I somehow thought I knew what was best for me.

Since I would not surrender that area of my life to the Lord, those relationships became my god. I served my desire for love and companionship and deceived myself by believing that God's way was too hard and too lonely. Of course any time you try to replace Him with someone or something else, you will never succeed. You may look outwardly successful. You may have a beautiful-looking family or be part of a fabulous couple, and all the while you are dying on the inside because none of what you are doing is honoring God and you are killing your spirit in the process. That was me. My god (relationships) betrayed me again and again and left me feeling used.

I am so thankful that God never gave up on me. He waited patiently for me to realize what He had been showing me all along: that His grace is sufficient for me! He has a wonderful plan for my life! His banner over me is Love! I need not search for what comes overflowing from the heart of the Lord. All I had to do was surrender to Him.

I shared that I always thought it would be too difficult to change my lifestyle to fit God's plan. I thought I would always be an outsider in His family because I couldn't get it right. I had desires and I felt that God should understand since He created me. What I learned is that He does understand but He loves us enough to want us to break free from bondage to our emotions and physical bodies.

I reached a point where I was really sick of some of the patterns in my life. I knew that those patterns were a result of the choices that I had continued to make (hardheaded!). I had been delivered before, I knew better, but I chose to go back to that familiar, yet destructive pattern again and again. The day came where I had enough. I said "Lord, my way is obviously not working so I'm not doing this anymore."

I didn't just apologize to God for ignoring His guidance, I repented. I cried out to Him and asked Him to change my life for good. I told Him that I wanted to live according to His Word and not according to what I wanted. Now I am satisfied in Him. I did not have to struggle to give up the things that used to control me. Once He had a sincere "Yes" from me, He quietly took those harmful desires away. I am no longer a slave to sin because the Son has set me free, and I am "free indeed!"

This does not mean that I no longer have desires. It means my emotions and desires no longer drive me. He is all that I need because every good and perfect thing comes from the Lord. He not only gives me what I need, He fulfills my joy.

With the emotional distractions out of the way, I am free to grow as I press in closer and closer to the Lord. Now God is working on my mind, reforming thought patterns, removing negativity and replacing it all with the hope of the awesome destiny that He has laid out for me. He is allowing me to learn all about His nature and personality. He is showing me the plan that He has for my life.

I am so grateful that Jesus died for our sins and went down into the grave taking our sickness and bondage with Him. I am even more grateful that He got up and arose on the third day that we might rise with Him and live victoriously. Often when Jesus healed someone or raised them from the dead, the first word He would say to them after their deliverance was "Arise." Seek healing for that addiction or difficult area in your life, He will surely deliver you. Arise and move forward!

"Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light." Ephesians 5:14 (NKJV)