Let the Seas Roar
Where is God in the Storm?
One of the most terrifying experiences of my life was when my daughter was about eleven years old. We’d gone to the ocean for our annual mother-daughter weekend. It was a cold, grey morning in late February with spitting rain. The beach was practically deserted. As usual, I left my cell phone in the hotel room while we took our walk. Up ahead was a half-buried log, easily 20-feet long by 3-feet wide. It was near the shore, so we climbed on top to gain a better vantage point for watching the waves as the tide rolled in. Surely, this monstrous log was safe…
…until an enormous wave crashed over it, and it began to shift and then roll. I was able to jump clear, but as the log re-settled, it pinned my daughter’s legs in the sand - with her facing downward. She couldn’t move. I frantically tried digging around her legs to get her out, but subsequent waves just washed more sand around her, sealing her in more deeply. With each wave I lifted her upper body up to keep her head above water. The log never moved.
I screamed hysterically for help – to no one. The beach was completely empty with no cars or people in sight. I held and lifted her as each wave crashed around us, praying desperately. I kept digging but it was futile. I knew that if I did not go for help, she would most likely drown long before the log again shifted.
And then I did the unthinkable: I left her.
I kissed and told her how much I loved her, instructing her to continue to push herself up and hold her breath with each wave until I got back. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I ran – knowing I might not see her alive again and praying with every fiber of my being.
In the far distance, I saw a man walking his dog. I began waving my arms wildly as I continued to scream. He must have sensed my panic because he too began to run. After what seemed an eternity, we finally reached each other. I quickly explained the situation, and he ran off for help while I ran back to my daughter. By the time I reached her, she was pre-hypothermic and lethargic. I took over lifting her through the waves.
All I could do was wait. And pray.
Within minutes, people began streaming to our location, and I heard an ambulance in the distance. Part of my mind registered those who stood back to watch while others jumped in the surf to help. It took six men to lift the log high enough to pull her out. The medics whisked her to the ambulance, cut off her clothes and immediately began treatment.
As I rode to the hospital holding my daughter’s hand, I was flooded with both relief and questions. That day, and in the days to follow, many people asked me why I stood on that log. Did I really not know the danger? The questions they asked were nothing compared to the questions I asked myself – and God! My foolishness almost cost the life of one of the most precious things in the world. I was deeply shaken. I will never forget the unbelievable power of the crashing waves.
What do we do when we make foolish decisions? How do we respond when waves come crashing into our lives, threatening to extinguish life as we know it? Where is God in the storm?
As early as the book of Deuteronomy, we are told, “He will not fail or forsake us” (Deut 31:6). This is echoed throughout scripture in verses such as “Do not fear, for I am with you” (Is 41:10) and “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb 13:5).
The question is not whether God is with me, but whether I am attentive to God in the midst of the storm.
Am I willing to take Him at His word that He is with me? I have found that one of the keys to recognizing His presence in any situation is cultivating a closeness with Jesus before the storm. By searching, seeking, listening, praying, waiting, and allowing Him into more of my life each day, over time, a relationship grows - and trust is built. He is there, and always will be, exactly as He says.
This relationship with Jesus may not keep us from making foolish decisions. But we have the assurance that even if (when!) we make poor decisions, He will be with us as we work through the consequences and move beyond the situation.
Beyond the fact that God is always with me, I am comforted to know that Jesus loves me, no matter what. Nothing that happens, whether or not it is something that I have caused, can separate me from His love. There are times I need to remind myself of this; especially when I’ve made a poor decision.
In Romans 8:35, Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution, or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?” Poor and foolish decisions fall into this list. But we are not left there. Paul continues in verses 38 and 39 with the reminder that nothing that has even been created can separate us from God’s love.
I never saw the man with the dog again, nor those who helped lift the log. We went back to the beach the next morning before cutting our trip short. We did not want this experience to create a shadow that would forever impact future trips. To this day, the beach is a special place of refuge for us both.
Through this experience, I was once again reminded that God is with me and loves me through the storms of life – even when the storm may be the result of my own decision. Let the seas roar.
Living Beyond the Noise is not a place to hide from the world. It is living for Jesus without the world overwhelming you. It is a place where Jesus guides and directs each of your steps.
Go Beyond:
Think about decisions or choices in your past that keep you stuck where you are. What do you need to leave behind to live more abundantly?
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
Feel free to share your response in the comments below!
