“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” – Psalm 57:1 (ESV)
I don’t think I will ever forget November 10, 2002, the day an EF4 tornado tore through a small town in Ohio where I was living at the time. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was lying on my sofa listening to the Cubs on WGN. The tornado sirens had been going on and off for a while, but I didn’t think anything of it because it was a fairly regular occurrence. Half asleep and half listening to the ball game, the room suddenly became dark and silent. As I ran to the window, I was shocked to see a tornado across the cornfield in front of my apartment. The winds started and were clocked at 240 m.p.h. It sounded like a freight train coming through. It ripped through our town like nothing I have ever seen.
Life is full of storms. We’ll face many in this life. Some people believe that Christians don’t face storms and that we lead an easy, carefree life. Nothing could be further from the truth. “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” -1 Peter 4:12-13 (NLT).
Trials we go through test our faith. God allows us to struggle so that we may build our inner strength. Satan would tell us that we’re not loved. He would tell us there is no God. Don’t let him attack you. Don’t give him power over you. “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5 (ESV).
James 1:2-4 (NLT) says, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
Stay strong, persevere, and grow your faith. Be courageous when enduring hardships and trials. Nobody knows better than Jesus what it means to endure. We grow our faith by hearing and reading the Word of God. We grow our faith by praying, studying, and having fellowship with other Christians. Don’t be complacent. Stay strong and weather those storms.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for allowing us hardships and afflictions in life. Help us through them so that we may grow our faith through Your Word. Help us fight Satan every minute of the day.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Written by: Laurie Davis
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