Eye of the storm

It’s quiet at our house today.   That’s nothing new.  Country living contributes to the lack of noise.

The stillness of the winter season makes it even quieter.  Snow blankets the ground and continues to fall each day.   We’re not really getting socked in with the snow storms other areas of the country have received, just a steady diet of the white stuff.

Our calico kitty hates the snow – won’t set one pretty paw in it.  So she passes her days nestled up in a furry ball, soundly sleeping in a few of her favorite spots around the house.  Even she seems subdued though,  content to just lounge and rest and occasionally utter her pathetic-sounding tiny “meee-ahh” when she desperately wants a kitty treat.

Of course, the empty-nesthood that is our home is noiseless except when hubby turns on the television to catch a favorite show or watch his James Bond movies on DVD.  So it seems incongruous that in the seeming tranquility of our home, I feel as though we are entrenched in the midst of a ferocious storm.

It’s not a physical storm that threatens us; it is a storm of disconcerting circumstances.  But that doesn’t make it any less painful or frightening or discouraging.  The suddenness of storms and the intensity of thunder, lightning, or bursts of gale-like winds often unnerve us.

Our middle daughter has always been terrified of storms.  When she was very young we lived in “Tornado Alley” in the Midwest and a sudden onset of thunder would send her scurrying for the safety of Mom or Dad’s arms.   If a storm brewed up during the night, her little body shot out of her bed and before we could even react, she cringed between us in our bed, looking for a sanctuary from the storm.

That’s how I feel today, like I’m in a safe place, a sanctuary from the storm that hovers around us.  Somehow, we remain calm in the midst of this tempest.   It feels like what I imagine it would be like to float along in the eye of a hurricane.  All around are the threatening explosions of wind and rain, but in the eye is serenity.

The eye in our hurricane is the trust we have in our God, who is so much more powerful than any storm’s outburst could ever be.  We stand on our faith, centered on God because we know as believers in Christ Jesus, we are the apple of God’s eye.  And in His eye is peace.

I know this is what He wants me to learn today in Chapter One, Page 29, in my book called Opportunity.  I know this with certainty because He has confirmed that through the written word and in song.  All day, the music box part of my mind has been playing “I’ll Praise You in This Storm,” a song by Casting Crowns.

And then I opened up the inbox of my email account to find an encouraging devotional sent to me by a far-away but very dear friend.  The title of the uplifting story was….you guessed it… “Praise Him in the Storm.”

Are you troubled today?  Is there a storm brewing around you too?  Listen to the words of this song.  No matter our circumstances, God is always there to help us through.  May you find you can praise God also in the middle of your tempest.

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