“This one isn’t going to work out either. I’m so sorry, guys. Hopefully we’ll find another one soon.”
Four years ago, my three sons and I lived in my little daycare while we searched for a house. The living conditions weren’t terrible, of course, but we were very cramped. We were anxious to find our own home and unpack our belongings which had been in storage for nearly a year.
But house after house fell through. One of my sons declared he didn’t want to look at another house, so as not to get disappointed when we didn’t move into it.
It was a discouraging time for me. Our family had already been through so much turmoil, and it seemed God was taking a very long time to answer our prayers.
In spite of my discouragement, I looked back to all the times God had provided for us, and I had faith that He would do it again.
I believed He would deliver us from yet another hard time, another trial, another storm.
Although I prayed to be delivered from the storm, little did I know that God was actually using the storm to deliver us.
You see, there was no way I could have known what would happen in the next couple years. All those houses we looked at first—the ones we prayed earnestly for God to allow us to have—would have put us in a not-so-good situation financially. God knew the future and what was best for us.
Obviously, I did not. All I could see was this trial—this storm—was lingering on and I wanted it to be over.
Sometimes God takes things we view as bad, hard, or annoying, and uses them to save us from a disastrous situation.
He uses the storms to save us.
In God’s Word, we see Him using storms to deliver His people.
Joseph endured years of heartache, but the circumstances in that heartache propelled him to the throne of Egypt and saved nations from starvation.
Ruth toiled hard, gleaning in the fields to provide food for herself and Naomi. But those fields—that work and turmoil—are what placed her in the path of her future husband and redeemer.
And the very best example of God using a storm to save us is this:
When Jesus was mocked, beaten, and hung on a cross to die. It was the darkest, blackest, most painful storm in the history of mankind.
But it was necessary for our salvation.
My friend, I don’t know what you are facing today. Perhaps you are facing a violent storm, or maybe one that has drawn out for a long time.
But I ask you to consider that God may be using this storm to save you from something you don’t even know about.
Keep trusting Him. He can see beyond what we can see, and knows what is best for us.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Though winds are wild,
And the gale unleashed,
My trusting heart still sings:
I know they mean
No harm to me,
He rideth on their wings. (Mrs. Charles E Cowman)
