He also wants us to understand that we are still growing. Not every storm we will face will we be victorious. Even now, I often fail and instead of having complete faith in what God can do, I begin to give in to worry and despair and wonder where God is. I’m still having to learn and grasp with complete understanding and assurance that I can do as David learned he could do: Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth (Psalms 46:10). While I may not be as bad as entering “panic mode” as much as I once was, I am beginning to learn that the Lord does have my best interests at heart. He has invested the blood of His only begotten Son to purchase me from the bondage of sin and I am in the palm of His hand. No matter what I face, I know with full assurance that I will not face death until my appointed time, and even then, the Bible clearly teaches that, as in the words of the apostle Paul, We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8). No matter what I face in the storm, as long as God is there with me, I have nothing to fear or to worry about, yet I still deal with this issue. Some day, I will get the victory over it and at that time, I know I will face another spiritual storm as God confirms to me the victory that he has already brought me over it. When that does happen, there will be more spiritual growth and more storms to test my progress. This pattern will continue until the day that the Lord calls me home.
I do not fear these storms because I know as long as I am being faithful in doing the things that my Lord Jesus Christ has set before me, He will keep me close to His side, encourage me, and help me become the Christian he has called me to be. That does not mean I look forward to those storms, but I know that they are coming just as I know that when I see grey wisps forming in the western sky I know that the possibilities of rain, wind, maybe some lightening, or even a storm is there. When I begin to feel the Holy Spirit molding me, shaping me, and teaching me, I know that there is coming a spiritual storm to test what I am learning to increase my faith in Him. The storms I fear are the ones I faced earlier in my Christian walk, those storms that I contributed to by my inactions or actions and where I ignored the Holy Spirit and continued in my sins. In the end, both types of storms will have the same outcome if we accept His absolute lordship over our lives – they serve to draw us closer to Him, to encourage us in our faith, and to strengthen our fellowship with Him.
