A little over a year ago, a tornado came through the neighborhoods where our friends, families, and churches are. I was a part of a group that sat huddled together in a middle school's locker room, singing "Jesus Loves Me" and waiting out the storm. The lights flickered and then everything went black. Children were crying. I held my mom's hand and we all silently prayed.
Eventually the lights came back on. We stood to our feet and we were slowly allowed to leave the building. But seeing the destruction that happened all around us was enough to make us want to retreat back into those locker rooms, close our eyes, and keep praying.
The world around us had been shaken. Torn apart. Houses, striped to the bare bones.
So much of the world around us had crumbled. Fallen. Been destroyed.
But God was at work.
He had protected hundreds of people.
And with time, rebuilding has taken place.
Rebuilding of houses. Of lives. Of homes. Of families. Of hearts. Of people's faith in Him.
There was purpose in the pain.
Because there was the constant promise of His presence.
Through that whole experience, we learned a lot. We saw firsthand that even the strongest walls can crumble when shaken. Even the deepest foundations can cave in. Even the houses that look unharmed can be left with cracks and a layer of settled dust after the storm is long gone.
My life was not directly impacted by the tornado as many lives were. I didn't lose my home. I didn't lose family momentos. I didn't lose a loved one.
But almost 1 year after the EF4 tornado wreaked havoc on our community, my life was directly affected by a different shaking.
The great shake of 2014 in my life brought confusion. Heart break. And a lot of tears.
I have experienced many days of sadness... of loss... of anxiety... and of loneliness.
I have been more so than ever before reminded of how our minds are battlefields.
And how we are constantly in a war... where Christ already has won... but where battles are still raging.
It's a daily... rather moment-by-moment... surrender to trust that this fight is not mine.
God is at work.
And with time, rebuilding will take place.
There is purpose in the pain.
Because there is the constant promise of His presence.
I haven't been much in a place of investing. Or of pouring out.
Because I'm constantly trying to figure things out.
But I am in a place where I have a lot of time and I have the desire to invest that time wisely.
I've read a lot. I've prayed a lot. I've laid in my bed a lot. I've listened a lot.
In hopes to gain understanding... gain healing... gain peace... gain perspective.
So I may not be in a place right now of being able to DO much like pursue and live loudly.
But in the quietness I'm so frequently consumed by, I find myself in a place of complete capability to connect the dots of what I've read and heard and felt and experienced.
In the deep parts of my heart. On the battlefield that is my mind.
So for anyone who's reading this and trying to fight your own battle... recover from a storm that has struck your life... praying for victory... crying out for relief in your distress... I pray you are encouraged. It'd be a waste for me not to share when the Lord so gently and intentionally has led me to discover truths in Scripture and how everything I encounter is more connected than I ever could have imagined.
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"...we are powerless against this... we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." (2 Chronicles 20:12)
"Thus says the Lord to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed... for the battle is not yours but God's." (2 Chronicles 20:15)
++DISMAY++
---distress
---extreme anxiety
---sorrow
---pain
---heartache
---suffering
(affects the mind or the body)
"You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position..." (2 Chronicles 20:17)
What's our position?!
---lean on Him ... trust
"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us." (Psalm 62:8)
---abide in Him ... keep to
"You only have to hold onto one thing - JESUS... and the grace of it is... He's already holding onto you." (Ann Voskamp)
---enter into His rest ... have peace
"Peace is not something that can be put on a person; it is a fruit of the Spirit, and fruit is the result of abiding in the vine." (Joyce Meyer)
"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress." (Psalm 107:6)
That's a promise. He delivers. He is a refuge. He is faithful.
"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him..." (Psalm 37:7)
He is Jehovah Jireh... the God who provides.
