In the Midst of the Storm...Find Rest!

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him." Psalm 62:5

Here we are in the middle of February and it will be in the 60's the next couple of days and we are expecting some severe thunderstorms after midnight tonight. Kind of unusual weather for this time of year...thunder instead of snow. And if you know me very well, I hate thunderstorms. Past experience has shown that lightening likes to strike my TV's (and my brother-in-law) and uproot an oak tree, throw the doghouse over our fence into our neighbor's roof and take down our chain-link fence. I hate storms!

We've all experienced storms in life and not just the kind outside our window! It may be in our family, at work, in our finances, our health or even in our church that storms come. We know it's not a matter of if they come, but when. Difficulties are an inevitable part of life--seasons of our lives change, and sometimes change brings hardship. We are all people of differing temperaments, sometimes clashing and affecting those around us, bringing environmental turmoil.

When life is "stormy", it is anything but restful. But God's Word teaches us we can rest in Him no matter what the circumstances. The original Hebrew word translated "hope" in today's verse literally means "a cord, as an attachment". In all the changes and turmoil of life, God is constant and faithful. Our cord must be attached to Him and Him alone. Anything else we try to hold on to for security can fail. He is where our soul finds rest. He is that "cord" that holds our life together when we think we're falling apart.

He is there in the midst of the storm. When the Apostle Paul was traveling to Rome in chains and was lost at sea and gave up hope, God spoke to him in the storm to give him courage and promise of being saved (Acts 17:13-25). When Job was suffering severely and his friends were accusing him of some terrible wrong, "the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm" (Job 40:6) assuring Job of His justice and that He was in control.

If you're sailing along peacefully now--rejoice! Be thankful! But when the winds begin to blow and life is not smooth sailing, attach yourself firmly to the Lord, hold on to Him--and find rest.