Growing up in Phoenix, AZ, every summer we would have monsoon storms in the evenings. I had a love hate relationship with these storms. The things I loved the most about them were; just before the storm hit the sweet dusty smell of the wet desert and the lightening as it sprawled across the sky. I could watch the lightening for hours. I remember as a young girl at my grandma's house I would stand in front of the big dining room window watching the lightening arc and etch designs into the night sky. As the storm got closer what I hated and feared the most start, the dreaded THUNDER. I would play a game of hide and seek with it. As I stood at the window I would watch for the lightening, then duck under the dining room table until the thunder was over and pop back out to watch for more lightening. I felt safe under there hidden form the thunder.
Now that I'm grown and living in Texas, I miss the sound of the thunder in Arizona. My oldest son would argue with me that there is no difference in the sound of thunder until a couple years ago he experienced one for himself in Arizona and heard the difference in the sound of thunder there compared to Texas. Like the storms of life not all storms are the same. What might seem like a major storm to me might be a minor storm to you. It all depends on where we are in life when the storm hits. No longer do I go hiding at the sound of thunder.
Unlike thunderstorms that you can see coming from a distance, the storms of life can come without a warning. Job sure found that out. He thought that he was doing everything right. Even offered up sacrifices for his kids just in case. Yet when the storm hit, it was like a Cat 5 hurricane wiping out everything. Everything except for the one thing that could be taken away, his faith in God.
Even when you're in the midst of a storm like Job he trusted that God would be there in the end. No matter what his friends were saying. Job clung to the fact that he knew in his heart. That God was in control of everything. Also, God was his Redeemer and that He lives. Job also knew that one day he would see Him.
So until the storm has passed and the thunder is gone, keep these in mind:
- It is only temporary.
- God is in control.
- He has not forgotten you.
- He is alive.
- One day you will see Him.