Faith Words: Stormy Weather

The storm that blew through town Friday evening toppled trees, damaged roofs, and blew everything around.  It's amazing that anything withstood the strong winds. Around town, huge trees were completely uprooted and fell across front yards, landing on the homeowners' roofs or that of their neighbors.  Store signs were bent and demolished.  Businesses had walls knocked down and apartments had roofs caved in.  Fences fell.  The damage was widespread.

In our yard, three large branches came off our big live oak and one dead branch fell from the red oak nearby.  In the backyard, a few little branches broke off the pecan tree, mostly dead ones.

A few years back, we had a long drought, and then, we had a bad ice storm around New Year's Day following that.  Remember?  Everything was coated with heavy ice. The poor trees, stressed by the drought, staggered under the weight of the ice and many limbs snapped like toothpicks.  We had workers help us haul off the debris and cut out the broken branches still dangling in the trees.  But not all the damage was visible.

Some of the branches weakened by the ice storm never recovered, so when the strong winds hit them hard Friday night, they were twisted in every direction and could no longer hold on.  Branches more than 10 feet long were torn off the trees and tossed around like tumble weeds.

But the branches and limbs that remained intact were firmly attached to strong, healthy trees with strong, healthy root systems.  Those trees were able to face the storm, bending and swaying with the force of the angry winds.

Now, the clean-up begins.  Bring out the brooms and rakes.  Hire a crane to help with the heavy lifting.  Get a crew to saw up the downed trees and branches.  While you're cleaning up, check for damage that might have gone unnoticed at first glance.  Get ready.  Stormy weather is bound to pop up again soon.

What storms have you weathered?  Was your damage light or severe?  Sometimes, storms strip away the unnecessary, the old, broken, dead areas of our lives that we had tried to hang on to.  Sometimes, storms break perfectly healthy parts of us.  Sometimes, storms do nothing more than frighten us and make us doubt.  How do we survive the storm and how do we prepare to face the next one?

If we let a season of drought sap our strength, our faith, our devotion to the Lord, how will we receive the nourishment our souls need?  If we try to go it on our own, we can be layered with heavy strife that can crush our spirits, leaving us in poor condition to bear up under the next trial.

The Lord encourages us to remain firmly in Him, allowing Him to prune the unnecessary, the old, broken, dead areas of our lives as He sees fit from time to time, drinking in deeply from the fertile soil of His Word.  When we're solidly attached to Him, we may feel the brunt of a storm, but we can survive.  Any damage we have, He can repair.  Any brokenness we feel, He can mend.  Any wounds we suffer, He can heal.  As long as we remain in Him.

As long as we remain in Him, our faith in Him will make us supple enough to bend and sway with the storm winds, trusting His strength to get us through.

Storms are sure to come.  We know that.  Till then, let's hold on tight to the Lord.  Let's nourish our hearts with His Word, His Truth.  Don't put off cleaning up the damage from the last storm, even if it appears minor.  Look for the hidden, subtle damage, too.  Let's prepare for the next storm.  Let's remain in Him.

Preparing,

Patrice

John 15:5 NIV

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.