Riding Out The Storm In Peace

Riding Out the Storm in Peace

You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. Proverbs 3:25-26

The headlines of the past few years have been full of calamities and disasters. In addition to 9/11 and other terrorist attacks around the world, there have been hurricanes and widespread floods, tornadoes, war in the Middle East, a catastrophic tsunami, and dangerous wildfires here and abroad. It’s enough to cause some people to avoid watching the news. We live in an increasingly violent, uncertain world, and anxiety about disasters is on the rise. Those uncontrollable, huge events crash into our lives and change things forever.

“I can handle the day-to-day struggles like sickness and financial problems, my husband not paying child support, or the possibility of losing the house,” a woman told me. “But I couldn’t handle a major disaster. I don’t know if my faith could stand that kind of test or if I would survive the tragedy.”

Larry Jones, cofounder of Feed The Children, has seen firsthand some of the worst disasters in our time: famine in Ethiopia, war in Bosnia, Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Indonesia. His ministry has been there to deliver planeloads of food, medical supplies, and clothes. He says that these disasters and ones like stormy marriages, financial upheavals, and physical storms like cancer can’t always be avoided or prevented. But we can choose the way we respond to them. He has seen over and over that if we choose our reaction, we can tap into God’s provision and ride out the storms in his peace. As we choose to believe God’s promises, trust his provision, and put our powerlessness in God’s almighty power, we will find him faithful. —CHERI

Lord, you hold me in the palm of your hand; you surround me and dwell within me by your Spirit. Therefore, though everything around me is shaken, I can trust you.

Be assured, if you walk with him and look to him and expect help from him, God will never fail you.

—GEORGE MÜLLER (1805–1898), CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST AND COORDINATOR OF ORPHANAGES IN ENGLAND