Storms of Life
In light of all of the storms we’ve had lately, I’ve gone back into my memory bank and recalled my childhood and what would happen then when storms were approaching. We lived next door to my paternal grandparents who had a basement which opened up to the outdoors. My grandma’s kitchen was in that basement and I spent many hours there with her.
As most children did in that time, I spent a lot of time playing outside. No one worried about me or the kids in the neighborhood with whom I played. That is, until a summer thunderstorm would blow up. As the clouds gathered and darkened and the wind began to blow, my grandfather would come out and call us into that basement. His voice and the urgency with which he called us made me terribly afraid of storms. To this very day, when a storm blows up, I remember him calling us to keep us safe. I also remember his pacing back and forth in that room with a worried look on his face.
However, as I matured, married, and became a mother, I realized that I needed to stay as calm as I could in storms because I didn’t want my own children to be afraid. We tried to teach them to have a healthy respect for the weather, but not to be terrified by it.
All of these memories have caused me to think about how we handle those “storms of life” that come our way, sometimes on a daily basis. We all know how much damage can be done by tornadoes and flooding, but do we realize how much emotional and spiritual damage can be done by the problems that come into our everyday life? These can appear in a heartbeat – loss of a job, unfaithfulness of a spouse, a heart attack, the death of a spouse, a child who leaves the faith, a fire that destroys all that you have, and this list could go on and on. What then??
My simple but profound answer is found in the book of wisdom in the Bible. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
All of these thoughts reminded me of a song I dearly love. I’ll end this post with the words to that song written in 1958 by a man named Mosie Lister. The title is “‘Til the Storm Passes By.”
In the dark of the midnight I have oft hid my face,
While the storm howls above me, and there’s no hiding place.
‘Mid the crash of the thunder, precious Lord, hear my cry;
Keep me safe ‘til the storm passes by.
Many times Satan whispered, “There is no need to try,
For there’s no end to sorrow, there’s no hope by and by.”
But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I’ll rise
Where the storms never darken the skies.
When the long night has ended and the storms come no more,
Let me stand in Thy presence on that bright peaceful shore.
In that land where the tempest never comes. Lord may I
Dwell with Thee when the storm passes by.
Chorus
‘Til the storm passes over,
‘Til the thunder sounds no more,
‘Til the clouds roll forever from the sky,
Hold me fast; let me stand
In the hollow of Your hand.
Keep me safe ‘til the storm passes by.
AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
