Eye of the Storm by Author Darlene L. Turner

 Eye of the Storm by Author Darlene L. Turner

An angry funnel cloud hovered in the distance. Its blackened claws threatened to reach out and pull him in. He gripped the steering wheel like a life raft, praying the storm would pass by.
Hail bounced on the road. Tree limbs whipped back and forth, breaking off before flying through the air. No, there would be no outrunning this storm, so he stopped, pointed the front of his car into the storm, and pleaded to God for mercy.
Have you ever had to stare down a storm—literally? My husband did recently while travelling through his sales territory. Severe storms blanketed the area, so he had to think fast. Thankfully, the funnel cloud moved away but not before causing his heart to race and damage to the area.
He learned a long time ago when heading into torrential storms it’s important to point your car directly in it’s path, facing it dead on. If you’re sideways, it’s easier to be picked up and tossed around.
This got me thinking. Why do we try to run from the storms of life? What keeps us from facing them head on?

I’m sure most would agree it’s because they are too dangerous. Storms scare us, tossing us around and messing up our lives. They invade our happy space. No one wishes for hard times, but when they come where should we be? In the eye of the storm or on the edge where we could be picked up and thrown about?
I know what you’re thinking. Why would you want to be in the middle of a storm? Wouldn’t that be more dangerous? Let’s take a look.
Wikipedia says, “The eye is a region of mostly calm weather found at the center of strong tropical cyclones.”
The center is the calmest place to weather out a storm. It’s where we find peace and total reliance upon God. With Him at the helm, He has complete control over our lives. Isn’t that how it should be? Heading straight into our storms is the only way to truly live.
Let me explain. If we don’t face our fears and learn to rely on God, we become stagnant. We skirt around issues, thinking they will go away. We run in circles. We hold onto bitterness and bypass joy. Do we really want to live like that?
Perhaps we try and lean on others to go through it for us. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. We need to face our fears and learn from them.

This isn’t easy but with our Savior’s help we can reach the other side. All we need to do is ask Him to guide and strengthen us.

What storms are you going through today? Ask God for strength, hold His hand, take a deep breath, and walk through it.

Run to Eye of the storm.

It’s the only place to find peace.

It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain. Isaiah 4:6 (NIV)