My computer would not open last Tuesday so I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy. To keep it short, by Saturday the hard driven and flash drive were gone, and everything was lost including all my writings and outlines for the blog. The hard drive was sent off to retrieve what they can. Hopefully, I’ll have it all back in 2-3 weeks so I’m putting together some thoughts to post.

There are many people listed in the bulletin and in the announcements that are experiencing storms of one kind or another in their lives. There are others going through trying times that we do not know about. Extreme illness, death of a loved one, family problems, financial problems, etc. seem to always be with us. We have all been there in our lives. The following is from New CREEations Ministries:

You can be in peace in the middle of whatever storm life throws at you. The key is to keep your focus on God, because he truly is bigger than any storm. Peter was able to walk on the waves in the midst of the storm as long as he focused on Jesus. But when his focus shifted onto the raging sea he began to sink. Make God the center of your attention. Keep your focus on Him. Then you will pass through any storm in perfect peace.

I believe these words but putting them into practice is not always easy for me. Some of the difficulty speaks to my problem of accepting God’s decisions, my faith. This is attributable to satan attacking where he knows I’m weakest. Already troubled, concerned and even worried about the outcome of the storm, satan works at creating doubt by asking why God would let this happen and why he’s not changing it like my request in prayers.

The key is “pass through the storm”. We are not promised that everything will be changed to our satisfaction even though we diligently pray about the storm. The following verses speak to the fact that “God has got our backs”:

I Peter 5:7 – Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

I Peter 5:10 - …. after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious …. And the peace of God…. will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 41:13 – For I am the Lord your God…. Do not fear; I will help you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 – I will never leave you or forsake you.

For me, it comes down to sronger faith. I must trust God’s decisions even though the outcome is not what I prayed for.

How do you cope? Let me know.

Let me know if you need prayers. You’ll be in my prayers every morning. It will be private!

Mike