Storms

So here I am, finally formulating an update only a week and a half after I said I’d have one up. To all my “adoring fans” out there who’ve been anxiously awaiting the next installment of “What’s going on in Elizabeth’s world”, I apologize for the tardiness. As always, life has been insanely busy and time has slipped away from me. So, without further delay, here it is…

…a story, rather than an update. It’s a lot more interesting, I promise you that!

It was a dark and stormy night. Then again, maybe it was just a slightly grayish day. Either way, it felt like a dark and stormy night in my heart. The winds of this world buffeted and bruised my trembling soul as the roaring waves of the vast ocean rose up, up, up! The waves towered higher than the small vessel that held me and then some, up so high that the they seemed to literally touch the sky itself. Lord, still the wind and waters, for I am about to perish!
In an instant that seemed to drag out for hours they came tumbling down, down, down to capsize the little boat that was formerly my safe-haven. The dark waters wrapped their icy arms around me as I was tossed into the raging sea, stealing my breath in their cruel embrace. I fought to keep my head above water, to keep the liquid out of my lungs…but every time I managed to suck in a wheezing breath the freezing water seemed to be sucked in right along with it. Lord, pull me out of the water, for I am about to perish!
It wasn’t long before my already-failing strength failed entirely. I could no longer kick my aching legs, no longer move my arms in an attempt to tread water. As the relentless rain blew nearly sideways in the howling wind, one more giant wave towered up above me and seemed to wait for an undecided moment before beginning to roar down on the pitiful wreck of my life. As my head slipped under the water’s surface and my world faded to black I knew that this was going to be the sleep from which I would never wake. Lord, hold out Your arms to me, for I am perishing.

Warm sand. Fresh breeze. Life. Wake up, and live! Was it my own voice that called to me from the threshold of consciousness? Did it matter? I could feel life returning to my body, and with it, pain. As breath again entered my lungs I choked on it, as if it were unfamiliar now that I had inhaled so much water. After I finally managed to stop coughing I slowly opened my eyes, and was surprised to find myself laying on a warm, sandy beach gazing out over a clear blue sea. The sun was just beginning to set, and it looked as if heaven’s gates were open and light from inside was spilling out to flood the sky with color like nothing I’d ever seen. Lord, it’s beautiful. Thank You for life that I got to see this sunset. But…why, Lord? Why did you spare one such as I in that moment when I thought You’d abandoned me? Why am I alive?

“Child, why should you be so surprised? Why did you doubt Me? See, I have saved even you of little faith from the storm that surrounded you, even though you didn’t think you’d make it. Is anything impossible for Me?”


Something to think about next time you’re caught in the middle of a physical/emotional/spiritual storm. Just remember, we can’t save ourselves, but God has already saved us all. Shouldn’t we trust Him enough with our lives—that He bought as so great a price—that we stop worrying about how close we are to destruction and start seeking His face and His peace in the midst of our greatest storms?