His Ambassador Blog

Typical hurricanes are about 300 miles wide. According to weather.gov, the force of hurricane winds usually extends outward anywhere from 25 to 150 feet. What’s interesting is that the eye of the hurricane is completely calm. It is the eye wall surrounding the eye that holds all the highest winds. The eye wall is home to the nastiest weather of the storm.

I inform you of this because I’ve realized the suffering that the eye wall of the storm can bring. I’ve seen firsthand what it’s like to be in a season of waiting, loneliness, heartbreak, and so much more. It’s easy for us to think that God allows a storm to swell around us, to suffocate us. It’s difficult to realize that there is something better that will come out of this battle we’re facing. But the reality of it is, God will bring purpose out of your pain.

I think about Job and the complete heartbreak that he faced. It wasn’t God that brought his storm or his trial, but God was with him through it. Even after Satan had taken everything from Job: his animals, his health, his comfort, and even his children, Job remained faithful because he knew that God was faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 reminds us of this, “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” We don’t serve a God who wants nothing to do with us. We serve the God who has sent His one and only Son to die, so that He could be with us. What love that is!

Again, It’s easy to look at the storm around us rather than at the heart of God. It’s easy for us to take our eyes off Jesus when the waters get rough, just like Peter did. I’ve always found it so interesting that the second Peter turned away from Jesus, he began to sink. I’ve experienced this in my own life. With all the covid business that happened it was easy to worry about what life was going to look like, instead of seeking God. In an age where the world is continually declining in spiritual health, it’s easy to fear what the future holds. But when I remember that victory is already God’s, and that I am on the winning team, walking through these storms is so much easier. That’s one of the many magnificent things about God: He does not leave you alone. He doesn’t let you sink. I’ve found that even when surrounded by the “eye wall” of the storm of stress and anxiety, God will keep me calm. He is my eye, the safe space, the calm in the storm.

Matthew 14:30-31 reads, “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” I can attest to the fact that being in the ocean when it’s super rough is not the most fun experience. You begin to feel sick and you get dizzy and the next thing you know you’re lying in bed that night rocking back and forth! I could never imagine being able to get out of a boat in the middle of a horrific storm. But Peter took a step of faith. The winds were whistling, the waters were raging, but he stepped out. The piece of the story that always gets me, is that word “immediately.” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand, and He caught him! But when we call on God, when we surrender every aspect of our lives and our struggle to Him, He picks us up. He won’t let you drown; He won’t let you sink.

Whatever storm you are facing right now, whether it be anxiety, depression, struggle with a certain sin, a myriad of things, know that God is going to walk with you. And if the situation arises, He will carry you. Isaiah 25:4 reminds us, “For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” God is the God who stays. He is the God who cares. He loves you and I invariably. No greater peace and comfort will ever be felt apart from God.