Storm

I am in the middle of a storm. There are days the waves come crashing in and seem so high that I’m going to drown. And then there are days we get into a quiet cove and the storm doesn’t actually touch us.

But Christ is present in both places. He’s taking care of us in the midst of the stormy mess and he’s giving us rest in the quiet cove.

I know others who are in storms, or maybe just rainy spots and they turn to Christ even then for support and encouragement and peace. It’s scary to be in the middle of a storm sometimes. It’s exhilarating to be in the middle of a storm sometimes.

I entered a new phase of our storm when I shaved my head Friday night (well, Anthony did the actual shaving). I’m glad I gained some weight before I had to do that. I could handle the ghoul low weight look OR the balk look, but not sure how I’d feel about both together. 🙂

A friend brought hats, another front bought more hats. Then another friend brought soft cotton caps that I can wear out of the house. And I spent money on a few more caps that I can wear around or outside the house. Partly to cover the baldness, but mostly to keep me warm. I don’t mind people seeing me bald, although I know it would be a shock to them to see it, because it’s still a shock to me every time I look in the mirror. But for weddings and church, I needed a scarf and hat to look good and not distract.

Although for the wedding I wore my ao dai so I was a bit of a distraction anyway, but in a good way. And the bride was still in white, so she still got the main attention.

Storms can be good. They can shake us out of our complacency or our comfort zone (the coach on Beach Body was talking about that today). We need that. How can we transform into the likeness of Christ if we stay the same all the time? We have to change. And He will change us, with our cooperation or not. So better to be open to those trials and count it all joy because it is God at work in my life to CHANGE ME! And boy do I need to be changed.

There are changes that scare us because we don’t know what is coming. And there are changes that annoy us because they get in our way while we’re trying to live life (think remodeling the kitchen). And there are changes we get excited about, a fun trip or a new class or skill.

We should approach God’s transformation of us through trials and storms, as the latter. I know we don’t know exactly what He’s doing, but we know the end goal is to make us like His Son. That is a good purpose and end goal. So we should be better at just trusting that He has it under control and go along with it.

Do we trust that God is sovereign – He has the power to actually do what He says He will do?

Do we believe that God is good. He will not be a tyrant or hurt us, but will only and always do things that are for our ultimate good, and good purpose of transforming us?

If we believe both of those, then we should joyfully jump into whatever He sends our way knowing it will change us for the better! We’ll learn something or change something that will make us a better person.

God is good, all the time.

And all the time, God is good.

And He is able to do what He has promised us He will do. Trust and rest in His plans for you. Count it all joy, even in the middle of a big nasty storm!