God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Psalm 46:1-3

Every so often, in all of our lives, we experience a storm. Some are concentrated, short lived, and incredibly stressful. Others seem to drag on forever dumping conflict and misery into multiple areas of our lives.

Precious Sibling in Christ, today allow me to remind you that no matter the category of hurricane, regardless of the damage it causes, you don’t have to be afraid or anxious. When the enemy comes slipping in through channels of insecurity, anger, doubt, or resentment, know that there is a power to save which overcomes all earthly matters, there is One who waits for you to know Him, trust Him, love Him as He loves you.

These are but a taste of God’s sweet, sweet promises to us:

• Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world. – 1 John 4:4

• Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will hold you up in righteousness with my right hand. – Isaiah 41:1

• With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. – Matthew 19:26

Dear heart, the Son of God died that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). His precious blood has the power to wash away not only our sin, but our fear and doubt, our guilt and shame, our anger and resentment. By calling upon His name, surrendering our lives to Him, and receiving the salvation He so freely offers, our fear can be replaced with assurance, our guilt can be replaced with righteousness, our shame with hope, our anger with peace, our resentment with forgiveness.

To be honest, I do not like to think about facing life’s storms without the Lord of Hosts protecting me, without the Prince of Peace in my heart, but when I do, I recall earlier days in my life, darker days, when I feared everyone was in some way looking to use me or ruin me, when I was resentful of the success of others, when I was driven by guilt and shame that I was never meant to carry around. Most of the time, God spares me the bad memories of those years, but when I need to fully appreciate where I stand now and how I stand now, they are there to remind me of where I was before and, more importantly, how far the Father has brought me from my past despair to my current state of hope, from a heart frozen in fear, shameful, unforgiving, critical, to a heart softened by His love, open to His instruction, loving, forgiving, optimistic.

As we cry out for deliverance in stormy times, let us remember the only true source of salvation, of freedom, of hope, of love (Psalm 34:17-20, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, John 14:16, Galatians 5:1, 13, and so many more). Let us cry out to the only One who can truly save us, the only One who will never turn a deaf ear or a blind eye to our needs, the only One with the power to shape our hearts and heal our hurts.

Beloved, man can only do so much. Man will always at some point disappoint. BUT God, God is all knowing (Daniel 2:20-23), all powerful (Jeremiah 32:17), and always planning for our good (Jeremiah 29:11). I encourage you to surrender to the One who knows you better than you know yourself, the One who will deliver you, supply your need, set you free! I can testify that you will never regret it and your life will never be the same.