Your storm is coming.
I started to write “I don’t say that to scare you or start any form of panic…” but maybe I do. Not the fear without the knowledge of Christ or a day to day anxiety, but the kind of fear that knocks you off your butt and gets you to start thinking. The Bible says in Matthew 5:45b “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
The storm is coming.
I can’t say this enough, and I believe many of you have asked yourself this same question “is this life all there is?” The answer is absolutely not.
Psalms 39:4-7 NLT “Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”
This world is not our home if you are a child of God. Although God is Sovereign and creator of everything your eyes lie on, He has given satan a season in this world. Jesus himself calls Satan the 'ruler of this world' in John 16:11. But someday-soon- He will be back to claim what has always been His.
Back to the storm. We give ourselves way too much credit. We plan, prepare, proof, and everything we can to assure ourselves that “this” will never happen. “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9
We have no control over the events that unfold over your life. Sure you have freewill, make choices, and even plan your tomorrows. There is truth in the old saying of adding “if the Lord wills it…” First hand knowledge, you have no idea what your future will be.
Tomorrow might be your storm. Here is what you can do. Jesus taught about the storm in Matthew 7:24-28. Again, this was not a “IF” the storm hit, it is a “WHEN” the storm hits.”
Jesus says,” 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
The storm was the exact same in both situations. “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house”. Jesus was not talking about the real rain and thunder storm here. He was talking about the storms that rip your heart out of your chest. When your spouse says they are packing their things, you get the phone call that drops you to your knees, or the doctor starts the findings with an “I’m sorry.” The storm you never saw coming.
Your storm is coming.
Jesus does have a question for you and the storm. Did you prepare? We aren’t talking about a well-padded savings account, a secure job, or great health insurance. When it comes down to it, those things are nothing to the storm. He asks what is underneath you? What have you built your life on? Before the storm came. As the world puts it “When the time for decision arrives, the time for preparation is past.” Thomas S. Monson
If your life has been built on the belief that God is good, regardless of the situation, you will stand. When you can say, this place is not my home and someday, because I have confessed my sins to my God and asked Him to walk with me in this life, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the place of eternity. If you have read the scriptures, and they are embedded in your heart, now is the time to go back and remember how God has shown himself to you in the past. If you can say, God is good even when this life is not because you have a relationship with Him, then you will stand because your foundation is solid.
If you do not have a relationship with Him, when the storm hits, you are going down. As Jesus says, like a house built on sand. When the same storm hit this house, it did not stand as the other house did. It fell with a “loud crash.”
Your storm is coming.
You need to check your foundation. Lots of people know me because of my job. I am the teacher at school. They say hello and chat and then walk away, and Scott asks me “who was that?” My answer many times. “I have no idea.” They know who I am because of what I do, but they really don’t know the real me. The “me” my family and friends put up with. :)
Also, in Matthew 7, Jesus says some will come to me and say Lord, Lord did I not….and still Jesus says, “depart from me I never KNEW you.” Emphasis mine
Guys, I love you. But Jesus loves you so much more. But He is a God who gives you a choice. In Revelation, He makes it clear you can’t be “lukewarm”- church on Sunday, trying to be a ‘good person,” or raise your kids right. The Bible says he will spit (puke- depending on the translation) you right out of His mouth. Not because He is a cruel or unloving God, but because you made a choice. It wasn’t Him. You had other things to do.
It's not if you know who Jesus was, but do you know who Jesus IS? Right now. Can you say you know Jesus in a personal, friend way? Do you talk with him and listen? Do you go to church just to spend more time with Him? Does He know you as His friend? It isn’t hard. Once you meet Him, you’ll never know how you got by without Him.
Your storm is coming. Be ready.
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