June 10th this year a pretty powerful storm ripped through several cities, including our own. With 70 mph winds, trees were uprooted, power lines were downed and many people, including ourselves, were without power.
Losing power is a fairly normal occurrence for our family because of our location, and we have a generator so it’s usually more an inconvenience than anything life challenging. We had been warned of the storm for days prior, so we were as prepared as one can be.
That day, I had struggled with having the wrong focus about life. Instead of looking at the issues our nation was facing through the lens of God’s promises to His children, I had been looking at our nation’s issues through the lens of the problems we were dealing with as a country. As a result, I was discouraged and felt weighed down.
Losing power and dealing with the aftermath of cleanup didn’t help. However, I knew I had a choice and only I could change my focus. So I asked God, while helping to remove a tree blocking our road, “What do You want to teach me, God? Because I’m listening.”
And, in His great mercy and love, knowing I was asking from a sincere heart, He answered quickly. Here’s a little of what He shared:
- He will always protect His children. The massive tree we were clearing came from our neighbor’s yard and had fallen safely … missing mailboxes, cars, and their house. If God is willing to spare property damage … how much more will He protect His children?
- Months earlier, God spoke to me in a dream about the importance of pruning. That day, while clearing the debris, I felt as though God was letting me know the process of pruning had started and the beauty I was seeing in the aftermath of the storm would be seen when the pruning He was doing was complete.
The next day dawned with beautiful cool temperatures and a gorgeous breeze, full of sunshine. Our power was still out and a few hours later our internet went down as well, with restoration delayed for two weeks. But I was happy.
God was giving me a chance to slow down, He had restored my focus to looking at the issues we’d been facing through the lens of His promises, and I was able to slow my pace out of necessity.
Do you look at life’s problems through the lens of the problem or through the lens of God’s promises?
© Cheri Swalwell 2020