While we haven’t had to deal with the wretched spring snowstorms that many have endured, we have experienced some violent windstorms over the past few days. I’ve seen fences blow to the ground and tree branches snap. Shingles have been torn from roofs and homes have been battered. I’ve watched my daughter stagger to the car, barely able to withstand the force, while my son has buried his face in my chest in at attempt to shield it from the fierce gusts. And I’ve held them both when the lights have flickered, the threat of being left in the dark causing them to fear.
“I’m getting sick of this wind,” my daughter tells me while she worries that she’ll never ride her bike again. “It sounds like thunder at night and I get scared. It’s really starting to bother me.” One night she even hid in her closet in an attempt to protect herself from the noise and the threat of destruction.
And I’ve been agitated too. With the wind beating against the house, threatening to shatter windows. With the constant noise, making it difficult to get a moment’s peace. With the threat of having our own property destroyed. With the sleepless nights as the wild gusts shake the house and heave toys and trash cans across the yard.
I’ve considered how I respond when the windstorms of life have threatened to take me down. Like my daughter, sometimes I hide. I isolate myself because the fear of exposure is too great. Other times I complain and slog through the depths of self-pity, certain that nothing will ever be good again. Sometimes I fight against the chaos, only to lose and crumble in defeat. I fear and falter. The light in my heart begins to flicker and I lose hope.
Until I remember that I have not been made to withstand the winds on my own. I don’t have to fuss or fear. I don’t have to fight or falter. There is no need to hide or lose hope. For He alone is my shield. He is able to steady my body and safeguard my soul. He knows how easily my heart is swayed, but He promises hope when my heart is worn thin. He asks that I rely on Him when my legs threaten to buckle and my mind is about to break.
He knows I become anxious and uneasy when the windstorms of life cause upheaval and panic. But when I am weak, He is strong. And with His strength, I have the promise of peace and protection.
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