Hi how are you all? I am well. This week we have had the first round of our summer storms. We received quite a lot of rain yesterday and a little bit more today. This summer season we are supposed to get a lot of storms. So we have been receiving a few messages to ensure our household is prepared.
This got me thinking. How do we prepare for the storms that arise in our lives? They could be as big as a pandemic or someone close to us passing away to financial hardships or even strained relationships. How do we prepare for them or is that even possible?
I believe it is possible to prepare – just most of us don’t as we tend to live in the moment. Storms come upon us suddenly and take us by surprise.
Let’s look at how Jesus dealt with storms. The story starts in Mark 4:35. Jesus told the disciples let us cross over to the other side. So they got in the boat and started off. Jesus had a tiring day teaching so He lay down on a pillow and went to sleep. Jesus only did and said what God told Him. Jesus put His trust in the Word and went to sleep.
The disciples,however, started out well and were steering the boat to the other side. When a storm came, they didn’t rely on Jesus’ Word but on the circumstances around them. They were not prepared for the storm, even though some were seasoned fishermen.
So how do we prepare? The first thing is make a plan. How much do you read your Bible and pray? We can only be prepared for a storm as much as our faith and trust in God’s Word is established. If you don’t have a plan or your faith is not built up, the storm will hammer you and you may fall. See Matthew 7:24
Next, you must check your supplies. What is your love walk like and how much do you operate in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. In 1 Corinthians 13:8 it says that love never fails. If my supply of love is low, then the storm may conquer me. What other supply do we need? The Holy Spirit. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit helping you and teaching you, you may fail. This is what happened to the foolish virgins in Matthew 25:2. We need to be like the wise virgins who carried enough oil.
The last thing we need to do is check our insurance. How is your relationship with God? Is it strong enough to carry you through the storm or have you let your relationship slip. Our relationship with God is crucial in a storm as we need to hear His voice and trust it enough to obey. There are many stories in the Bible where God spoke and when people obeyed they got through the storm. In our story earlier, Jesus spoke and the storm was stilled.
This week take a stocktake and check if you are prepared for the next storm in your life. Until we go to heaven there will be storms as we have an enemy. But I am confident that if we put the principles above in place, we will be victorious through them.
Have a great week and keep living the life God intended for you.
Bless you hesps
Karen
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