Part 2 – The Calm Before the Storm
The devotional in Part One of this series closed with “my thorn has put me in a place to pursue Him”. My life for a long time was what I like to call The Calm Before the Storm. Most people have heard this statement and it basically refers to those seemingly perfect weather conditions that are pleasant, sunny and generally show no signs of a storm coming. My life for 37 years was as good as anyone could ask for. I grew up in a Christian home and had a great family. I graduated from high school, went off the college, graduated in 4 years, married the prettiest girl in school and it goes on and on, even finding jobs, buying a house and having children. My cup had always been running over with blessings. However, deep inside my heart something was not right and I knew it. Even though I had grown up in the church my whole life, been baptized and lived a seemingly Christian life, God was not my primary focus. I had ignored the subtle hints that He gave me for a number of years, but in the summer of 2010 the perfect conditions began to form and when the time was right the storm had come. God let me know that I had been deceiving myself and He did not know me. The feeling of being separated from Christ was a sick and fearful time. How could this be? How could I be so far away and not even realize it for so long? From that point forward my journey with Christ had begun, but it has not come without a price. The journey is not easy and even though a lot of great things have happened, God has allowed a very hindering thorn to torment me to the point where it leaves me exhausted nearly everyday. Being a perfectionist and an analyzer, my mind has become a ground for spiritual warfare. It has become so tiring that I had to seek help. The main thing I’ve learned through this time is that God uses these times for us to seek Him for knowledge, strength and for us to allow Him to work in and through us during times of weakness. The flesh in me just wants Him to take away the storm but He wants to guide me through it. One of the hardest things to do in a storm is wait. Let’s be honest, waiting stinks! We want everything our way, on our time. When we pray for thorns to be removed from our lives, God answers in one of three ways. Those answers will be discussed in Part 3, the final chapter of this devotional series.
“…a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat.”