My husband Mike and I watched a movie a few years ago called 'God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness' that revealed the truth about Spiritual storms and emotional resilience.
In the movie, a Pastor faces a crisis that shakes his faith.
We live in a Spiritually storm-prone world. Nothing proves that more than the storms we are going through right now!
Consider the hurricanes that can affect coastal regions.
People who live in these regions know that it is possible that a devastating storm could occur at any time.
So they practice disaster preparedness ahead of time because it is a wise thing to do.
The Need for Spiritual and Emotional Resilience
Consider the parable about Spiritual disaster preparedness Jesus told in Matthew 7:24-27:
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Jesus said that the same storm befell both people:
- Rain descended
- Floods came
- The wind blew and beat against both houses
But did you spot the difference between the two people?
Both people heard God's word. But only one of them put God's word into practice.
That wise person was able to stand when life's storms came. Such a person is resilient, which means the ability to recover quickly when faced with challenge and adversity.
This includes remaining emotionally stable, maintaining peace in the midst of the storm.
Here's the truth: The storms of this world are going to come. They will become more severe.
You can see it in the cultural shifts happening every day and diseases ravishing the world.
Only the people who heed Jesus' words AND practice them will remain standing.
The rest will fall away.
Remaining faithful in little things trains you to be faithful in major things.
That is the major value of our health/weight loss journey; it trains us to become people of resilience!
My prayer is that we never forget that life storms are going to come. We can't get around that.
However, what we can do is prepare ourselves for the storm Spiritually.
What Believers Must Know about Weathering Storms
Our Pastor said the following about storms recently (from my sermon notes):
What every believer needs to know about storms:
1. Your attitude toward storms defines your level of success.
2. How you maneuver through storms expose any limits to your potential (storms reveal your weakness).
3. Storms uncover flaws in your plan that may lead to catastrophe.
4. Storms are wake-up calls to divine creativity
When you come through the storm well:
- God is glorified
- Others are electrified
- You are qualified (ready for promotion to the next level)
It is essential to secure our foundation because we just never know when a storm is going to come!
Let us be diligent in prayer, praise, worship, and putting God's word into practice in our lives every day.
In that way, we can be assured that we will remain standing in our Savior when the storm has passed.