Facing My Worst Nightmare

As I write this, hurricane Irma has been pillaging and plundering the south-eastern US. Hurricanes scare me, but not for the normal reasons. I’m afraid of how my nervous system responds to the drastic drop in barometric pressure. Last year, I was affected horribly by tropical storm Hermine (read some of the story here). Even the thought of going through another tropical cyclone system scares me to death.

The week leading up to Irma’s impact on my city, I really struggled with anxiety. I was forgetting who my God is. First, my God is sovereign. What He wants to happen will happen. No amount of worrying is going to change that. As Matthew 6:27 says, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” Worrying about something—thinking about it wrongly and continuously—doesn’t change anything.

Second, my God loves me. What He allows to happen is good for my growth in Christlikeness. Romans 8:28-29 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” The good is God’s purpose for His children: to become more like Christ. Whatever happens may not be good by the world’s standards, but it is still good for me.

Third, my God will never leave me. God is always with me. Whatever He allows into my life, He will be with me as I go through it. I love Isaiah 43:2 and the reminder it gives that God is with me during trials: “When thou passest through the water, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

Fourth, my God gives grace and strength. As 1 Peter 1:3 says, “his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” God gives me what I need to grow through what He allows in my life.

I did run away from Irma—a whole state away. But in a way, I’m glad to have had this reminder of who my God is and that He will carry me through whatever comes into my life, no matter how difficult it may be.

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