Storms

I have seen a lot of storms in my life; some self-imposed, some simply the result of a fallen world, and then those that came directly from Satan’s realm threatening my very existence. I am contemplatively meditating tonight as I am about a year out from being rescued by the Hands of Jesus from one of the largest storms of my life that has loomed over me since I was 18 years old. This unholy tempest was life-altering and would leave some permanent physical and emotional scars, but in some miraculous ways. Life altering to the degree that I will never live life for granted again! Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that the enemy of our souls came to steal, kill and destroy, but He came to give us Life and Life more Abundantly! I now live every day not with expectations, but with the expectancy of a little child about what Abba is going to do with this surrendered life today.

It is a curious meditation on the other side of the end of a lengthy storm like this one that conjures thoughts like “is it really over?” It almost feels like it was never real to begin with, and the repercussions have been as merciful as Christ washing my feet by a warm fire. My mind, body, spirit, and soul are ever thankful tonight, and again I feel almost like this is someone else’s story, and I am just a witness that has prayed, interceded, and fought (as I often do) for God to do a mighty miracle and He showed up in ways that are as usual mind-blowing.

So, my question to Him on the backend of this difficult life-lesson is what were you showing me here, Father? I have learned that we never fail a test with God; we only take them over and over till we get them right. His simple yet poignant answer was “walk in humility and focus on what has eternal weight” so I have pondered that little nugget in my heart for almost three years now and now I see the desires of my heart were selfishly motivated. My soulish nature has fooled my spirit by looking for what seemed to be the right desires, but in all actuality, I have been attracted to what is temporal, self-gratifying, and vain. To the point that before this hiatus, I found myself meditating on relationships, desires, and aspirations that were self-promoting, and full of blissful manipulation. So, I am now on a determined path to having the Mind of Christ in everything I put any I invest my mental, physical, and spiritual time in. I will wake every morning from this point forward intentionally seeking joy, and with conviction and a new discipline to have right thinking and right desires in every decision I make, or the answer will be no.

Sometimes The Lord calms the storm, and sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child

Jay