Almost a year ago, my mom and grandparents and I traveled to Sioux Falls together for an appointment for them. We were tagging along to help them with it all, and it was a gloomy sort of day where we suspected to run into some rain. We hoped to beat a storm that was brewing on the way home but instead got stuck right in the middle of it. My mom was driving my grandpa’s car, and she panicked as the rain grew so torrential until no sight in front of us was visible. She literally just stopped in the middle of this interstate we were on, which is something I would have done, too, ha, until my grandpa ordered her to pull off along the shoulder before we got rammed from behind.
We could barely even see where the shoulder was or where the shoulder became the ditch. Still, she was able to at least get over and regroup. Tracking the storm on our phone, we realized that we needed to be going so that we could somehow get ahead of it or else it would keep following us. Eventually, Mom got back into the actual lane and started going much slower. We had this truck in front of us we followed as a reference, and I think they had a trailer, too. When we finally were coming out of it where we could actually see the storm behind us and the light at the end of the tunnel—literally—it was cute because they waved at us and we waved at them when we were able to go by.
I don’t remember actually feeling endangered during this because I knew God would help us through it, but it was definitely an experience, and my mom, especially, had to endure actually driving through those conditions. She did a good job, though, despite stopping in the middle of the interstate! I think I had more fun taking pictures of the pretty sights it made once we were out of it. It definitely was a nice bonding experience!
I think I had peace through it all because of course God gives that to me, and I’ve also learned how to receive that through many other metaphorical storms in life. This was a very good allegory for the trials I’ve often faced throughout my life like all of us have. The rains pick up until you can’t even see where you’re going and you don’t even know how to act, leaving you paralyzed. Except when that happens, then you’re in danger of being rammed that much more and having more problems. You have to time out for the moment, get away from the threat and get close to God, time to be still with Him and wait on His guidance, wait for the light and direction He gives you. In this case, we were able to follow a truck closely until the light came through. And the light will come. It’s surprising how rewarding it is to look back on storms you’ve passed through when you’ve come out on the other end and are able to see how God carried you through and made you stronger through it.
I wanted to share this little story because it was such a picture to me for how all of the trials I’ve went through in my life have been. They’re horrifying at the time, they can take my breath away and leave me feeling absolutely lost about what to do next, but there’s always some thing God does to help me through it, even if that is just drawing near to me or giving me some sort of strength to get back in the lane if I can’t see or feel Him at all, encouraging me one moment at a time, just enough to be able to continue even if the pace is much slower than I’d like. I look back on my life with all the more joy and gratitude in spite of my trials, all these storms off on the horizon that I’ve been through. Other people still have to travel through them, which is why I have such a passion to write or in any way I can share my faith and stories to help you know how to get peace when it’s your time to go through the storms. The views that come at the end of a storm can be some of the most awe-inspiring, and I’m not just saying that to make some corny quote; think about how that is true in the real world. The deepest, most profound, life-changing insights I’ve been given have come to me after going through the storms in my life. It truly is like looking back on a bulging storm cloud and thinking, Wow, we just got through that. There’s insight you just can’t get from imagining things or reading about other people going through them. Every journey has storms of its own that bring about the needed insights in your life when you listen to what God is trying to tell you through them. Sometimes you won’t seem to see Him at all, but the light will come, and you’ll realize He was there with you through it all.
I hope that the next time you see storms brewing in the clouds around you, you don’t lose your peace. I pray that you’ll be reminded to look to the One who calms and controls the storms of life and will be right there with you when you go through them. And when you come out victorious through Him, the sights and wisdom you gain will be precious. When you feel yourself struggling, unable to grasp anything through the onslaught, pull off to the side. Breathe. Ask God to be with you. Ask Him that as much as you need until you begin to feel His peace and presence take over. Remind yourself of the verses of His Word that show how He will always be with you, always fight for you, and always take care of you.
The storms you go through mean something. Just as you gain experience as a driver, you gain experience as a human being. To know how to live truly well, at peace, in Him, and through Him to share His hope and truth with the world. Out of your storms can come the foundation of your life if you allow Him to guide you through them and work them for your good.
I don’t always feel at peace about everything in life. Anxiety is something I’m all too familiar with, but I’ve learned that emotions need not dictate my thinking. Sometimes my body trembles anxiously, but when I just take some time to lie down or just think, God, be with me; I’m afraid and need help, as much as I need to, eventually my emotions will calm. They can be a storm in and of itself, one that inevitably God will always calm.
As a result, I am that much stronger when it comes to not letting my emotions control me. I can choose how to think so that life seems like the joyful gift and miracle it was meant to be, which I’ve learned from going through nasty storms, as that perspective comes only out of seeing the worst and conquering it through Him, with His truth and power and grace. He’ll do the same for you.
When you see a storm coming, don’t panic or run from Him, which you couldn’t do, anyway. Hold on to Him, and don’t let go. He’ll never let you go. That’s where peace and freedom is found.
