By Joshua Rogers, November 11, 2018 at: http://www.joshuarogers.com
————————-
“What is wrong with you?” my wife asked.
I was cranky, snippy, and easily annoyed – by her, by my daughters, by the universe. I knew why, but I didn’t want to talk about it.
“I’m fine,” I snapped back.
I wasn’t fine. I was panicking inside.
At the time, my wife and I had some big decisions to make and that afternoon, I started imagining everything that could go wrong.
The more I let my imagination run wild, the more my life felt out of control. So I found myself trying to get control over everything in the room — my toddlers, my wife, the counter space, the air conditioning — you name it.
In the midst of all this, it began thundering and lightning outside. This provoked my three-year-old daughter to begin screaming in horror.
I tried to reason with her and my wife tried to comfort her, but it wasn’t working. Every time it thundered, my daughter cried out. At one point, she got so scared that she started aimlessly running through the house bawling.
Finally, we gave her a bath to calm her down, and it worked — for her. I was still anxious about the decisions we had to make in the coming year.
During my daughter’s goodnight prayers, I brought up her thunderstorm meltdown.
“Father,” I prayed, “please help Giselle trust me when it’s storming. Help her understand that I’m always close by and that she doesn’t have to be afraid of anything. Please help her believe me next time it thunders and I tell her it’s going to be okay.”
Suddenly, I paused and realized something: that was God’s prayer for me.
My daughter was a picture of my faithlessness, a picture of my inability to trust my Heavenly Dad, who was saying, “Calm down, son. You’re safe with Me. I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
I took a deep breath and sitting there in the dark next to my little girl’s bed, I prayed, “Father, would You please help me believe next time I hear the thunder?”
A few days later, we had another thunderstorm. This time, Giselle was nervous when it thundered, but overall she did okay — as long as I was close enough that she could run to me when she heard the rumble.
Five years later, Giselle doesn’t even notice the thunder anymore. At some point, she started believing me when I told her that it can’t hurt her. Everything always turned out all right. There was no need to worry.
There’s been a lot of thunder in my life since the prayer I prayed next to Giselle’s bed. Sometimes I run and look for a place to hide. Other times, I don’t even flinch. And every time — no matter what — Father God is there and I am safe.
****************************************
Mark 4:35-41 — That day when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
****************************************
God his own doth tend and nourish,
In his holy courts they flourish.
From all evil things he spares them,
In his mighty arms he bears them.
—Children of the Heavenly Father (verse two), Caroline Berg (1832-1903)
Related Posts
