It’s amazing how even storm clouds rolling in on the open water can be a sign of hope. You might be saying, “You might want to get inside before you get hit by lightning!” But if we ran away, or just gave in to every storm that came our way, we would live a defeated life.
We got to meet Samaria on Friday. She is a rescued dolphin that washed up on shore after hurricane Irma. She was barely a year old and had to have extensive rehabilitation to be saved. And like so much else on our trip it spoke to me. How many of us are like Samaria?
How many of us have been beaten down by a horrible storm in our life? Sometimes we are so beaten down, we feel like a small infant, unable to care for ourselves. We flounder on the beach, hoping we can find help.
Unfortunately many flounder there to long in the sun waiting for someone, instead of calling out to the one already standing right there, in pain, waiting for the opportunity to love you.
Psalms 107:28-31 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
You see, in Christ we don’t have to live defeated. We can wail back at the storm saying, “do your worst because the one that lives in me is greater than anything you can bring!” Storm clouds are a sign of hope. Storms are temporary.
Just like he promised to never allow a flood again, his promise stops any storm from overtaking you. Once the storm has passed, then the light can shine through. But when Christ is in the storm with you, his light wipes out any cloud. So don’t run from the storms.
Anchor yourself in him; and you can ride out any storm in the hope of the light that is to come. Call out to him in the time of your greatest storm. He will pick you up and rehabilitate you in his love and warm embrace.
On a side note, Samaria was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Israel. Shomron, the Hebrew translation of Samaria, literally means "watch tower", So just as God watched over even the littlest of his creations in saving Samaria, he is a constant watchtower in our lives. Keeping watch over us in all our storms. All we need to do is call out to him; he will calm the storm.
