Carol J German

Three things are impacting many people’s lives right now. Two are past tense while the other is coming soon, Helene, Milton, and an elephant with a donkey. If you weren’t directly affected by the first two, your life hasn’t changed. The third, though, will affect you along with everyone else.

How do you handle life when storms of varying kinds cross your path? Many people are facing very hard times in the Carolinas and Tennessee. The west coast of Florida has been battered not once but twice in a short amount of time. Is there a correct way to process through difficult things? The answer is yes. The world offers ways to cope, but you end up always searching for something else.

If only you and I would STOP focusing on the threat before us. If only you and I would STOP minimizing God’s ability to handle whatever we face, we would learn time and time again that GOD IS IN CONTROL!

Whether you believe God or not, He is with you. He created you in your mother’s womb. He gave you value. He gave you life. And now, you are called to live open-handed to what He has for you. You are made to surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and follow Him by living in obedience to the Holy Spirit. When you live in this way, your search is over. Your life takes on contentment, peace, and fulfillment. How do you think the Apostle Paul wrote Philippians from a prison cell?

Whatever you face, whether a tension-filled marriage, disobedient children, looming layoffs at work, an illness that you can’t find a diagnosis for, your car decides to not run, or whatever makes you toil through your day, know that God is smack dab in the middle of it! You are never on your own to figure things out. You are made to do life with Jesus.

“The Lord says, ‘I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in My name. When they call on Me, I will answer. I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them My salvation.'” (Psalm 91:14-16)

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim Your unfailing love in the morning, Your faithfulness in the evening. You thrill me, Lord, with all You have done for me! I sing for joy because of what You have done. O Lord, what great works You do! And how deep are Your thoughts. But You, O Lord, will be exalted forever. Your enemies, Lord, will surely perish, all evildoers will be scattered. You have anointed me with the finest oil. I will declare, ‘The Lord is just! He is my Rock! There is no evil in Him!'” (see Psalm 92)

“The Lord is King! He is robed in majesty and armed with strength. The world stands firm and cannot be shaken (with God). Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial. You, Yourself, are from the everlasting past. The floods have risen up, O Lord. The floods have roared like thunder. The floods have lifted their pounding waves. But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore, THE LORD IS MIGHTIER THAN THESE! Your royal laws cannot be changed. Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever!” (Psalm 93)

“Let the sea and everything in it shout His praise! Let the earth and all living things join in. Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord. For the Lord is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the nations with fairness.” (Psalm 98:7-9)

“The Lord is King! Let the nations tremble! He sits on the throne between the cherubim. Let the whole earth quake!” (Psalm 99:1)

And how are you to respond? “Let all that am praise the Lord. O Lord, my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty. You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens. You lay out the rafters of Your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds Your chariot. You ride upon the wings of the wind. The winds are Your messengers, flames of fire are Your servants. You placed the world on its foundation so it would never be moved. You clothed the earth with floods of water that covered even the mountains. At Your command, the water fled; at the sound of Your thunder, it hurried away.” (Psalm 104:1-7)

You are made to walk in unison with Jesus in every area of your life. Without Him, you will continuously search for something. Let these Psalms refocus you back to God. You will be met with a loving Father who will teach you how to live the right way. Don’t turn your back on God when life gets a bit stormy. He allows for hardships so you realize your need for Him. And when you turn to see, He will be there.