Gotta Squall Going Through Your Life?

I learned an important lesson this week… One that I humbly would like to share in the hope that it will benefit someone else who is going through a storm in their own walk…

I’ve written quite a few posts reflecting on Mark 4:25-41, Holy Spirit keeps having me look at this story at different angles, like a photographer capturing his subject from many different views.  Today Holy Spirit did that with me, and I want to share it with you.

“That day when evening came, he 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?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He 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!””

Furious squalls still come up in our lives, even today, don’t they? Maybe not figuratively speaking (as in the parable), but unexpected life situations can crop up out of nowhere, changing what was a day full of sunshine into the most dark and foreboding clouds, that furiously enter into our lives and catch us caught off-guard, by surprise, and if you think about it, when you compare it – we respond no differently than the disciples…

“Jesus!!!!” We cry out in panic.  “Help me!”

We run to throne room of God, frantically praying, beseeching Him to respond.   

Running TO the Father (and not away) is the correct way to handle things, but there is something more… 

Sometimes, when we are in the center of a “life-squall”, we try to withstand the situation…  We try to bring our emotions under submission, as the storm rages all around us…  We feel like we are in the eye of the storm that is twirling all around us in a fury, with its goal being getting us to take our eyes off of God and onto the situation.  Swirling around that squall attempting to have us lose focus can be:

• ALL the voices added into the mix of the situation, including  ol’slewfoot and his irritating, condescending taunts!
• People (including loved ones) with their well-meaning opinions, and unsolicited bouts of advice (as Lot’s wife did with Lot.  Also as Lot’s friends gave ill-willed advice,  judged and advised him (all in the same breath), adding to his emotional and physical anguish, instead of helping to relieve it.
• Our feelings, emotions, previous experiences, fears trying to overwhelm us with all the “what-ifs.

These are just some examples of ingredients that the storm can include, which can contribute to making it difficult to hear the voice of God over the noise of the squall. All which makes it difficult to focus on the Father and not on the chaos. 

The louder the squall blows, and the longer the situation lasts, the harder it becomes to be able to hear what  Holy Spirit is saying.  The storm grows fiercer and though we are TRYING to stand in Him and keep our stance, frustration comes in (because we can’t decipher or discern a response to our prayers), and the only thing that we can hear above the noisy storm, is the loud accusations of the accuser , (doing what he ALWAYS does), bad-mouthing the Father,  and contradicting the promises He has given us (for times such as these in the Bible):

Remember what the devil did with with Eve in Genesis 3:1-4:

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The devil even tried to use scripture when trying to tempt Jesus in the wilderness (and this is why it is important to hide God’s Word in our hearts, so that when the devil quotes scripture at us, we know what the correct content scripture is in and how to beat him (as Jesus did) at his own game. See Matthew 4:1-11:

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

and,

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him,

 “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”

We need to know the Word of God, meditate on it, soak it in and store it in our hearts for “squall times.” Jesus is our example, and He (being Truth) yielded it like a weapon, defeating the devil with it.

I have noticed that when I am in a vicious spiritual squall, Holy Spirit brings appropriate scripture front and center into my mind. Scripture IS the Word of God and it becomes our lifeline in times of trouble.  This is why we need to study it and store it in our heart. When Holy Spirit directs you to a certain scripture (such as he did with me) becomes a key indicator of an area where Holy Spirit is saying to you:

“This is an area within yourself that I want you to examine… This is an area that needs to be addressed.” 

I call them “ouch moments,” they are like a BIG beacon of Holy Spirit Light that comes upon you (like that of a lighthouse on the look out for any ships that are having difficulty finding their way in pitch black darkness or in stormy waters).  There Holy Spirit is and when He falls on you with the light of a scripture (the LIVING Word of God), there is a purpose in it.  The one Holy Spirit gave me this past month was Hebrews 11:6 which says:

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

As Holy Spirit directed my attention to that scripture, I was fine with the first half of it, but the second half hit a sensitive nerve. 

“Anyone comes to Him must believe He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seeks Him.”

I know that I have great faith IN God, (there wasn’t any question of that in my head).  I know that I BELIEVE that God exists, BUT when it came to the part “where he rewards those who earnestly seeks Him” – I felt sore spot in my spirit…

I recognized doubt… Like a necrosis that if not addressed, would grow, I recognized Holy Spirit pointing it out and saying to me:

“Kelly, with your permission, I’d like to work with you to remove that…”

Anyone who is a follower of Christ (part of God’s Called Remnant), who doesn’t admit to struggling with things Holy Spirit reveals to them that need changing, is not being honest.  Especially if it is shining light on an area within your life that needs changing… Those of us who desire to go deeper and grow in Christ, realize that obedience is the key factor. We MUST allow Holy Spirit to refine us, even (and especially) on those sore areas within us that need to be cleaned out, aired out in order to heal.

I had to ask God for forgiveness for something that I didn’t realize I was harboring.  I had to ask , as the father had to ask Jesus in  Mark 9:17-24:

 ^“Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

He answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!””

What is Holy Spirit showing you that you are harboring that needs an adjustment within you? Are you open to Him doing it once He reveals to you what it might be? or are you so comfortable that you want to remain in the state you are in?

In order to go higher and draw closer to God (and allow Him to draw closer to us), we need to be sensitive and obedient to whatever it is Holy Spirit reveals to in the make-up of us.  Impurities and habits that need to be re-adjusted, re-defined or removed can be extremely revealing and painful.  Refinement is a process, but it is one that (albeit painful) brings great rewards in Him.  I had to ask:

“Lord, I believe you are rewarder of those who believe you exist, HELP me to believe you want to reward ME.”

(How’s that for transparency? 🙂 )

When I submitted to allowing Holy Spirit the ability to change and heal me in this area, it opened up a window of SON shine (and yes I meant to write it that way…) into my squall.  All of a sudden that view on the scripture I’ve listed at the beginning of this post, (Mark 4:25-41) took on another view. (Again an example of how God’s LIVING Word is very much alive to ANY life situation, even in today’s time).  The disciples were so frantic with their fear and concern over the storm, and amazed that Jesus could sleep perfectly through it, that they could not see the answer to their situation was right there with them. The answer was (and still is) JESUS. 

Jesus is right there with us through ANY squall or storm that comes our way in life.  Jesus was the answer then (with them), and NOW with us. Perfect peace over all squalls comes when you know who is GREATER than ANY squall.  Perfect peace is resting in HIM as Jesus rested in that boat.  And here is the other thing that Holy Spirit revealed to me – often, the answer to prayer that we are looking for is RIGHT before us – only we don’t quiet the storm within us so that we can hear what that answer is.  AND I’m going to take it a step further – sometimes, we have a preconceived notion of what that answer SHOULD be.  We are praying for answers, looking to God for answers, but in our minds we already think we know what that answer is…  That’s not always how God works it out.  So that when the answer comes in a form different than what we expected it, we don’t always notice that our prayer has been answered.  We’re still thinking the problem is still before us (and God is looking at us saying, “don’t you see? I have worked that situation out already.”) We become so caught up in the center of the squall, that we allow ourselves to become frantic in an almost “hyperventilating” spiritual state, that we MISS what God is saying:

“My child, I’ve got this.  I’ve got you. I’m handling this. IT IS HANDLED.”

So that we can stop crying before Him, wipe the tears from our eyes so that we can see clearly what He has done in the midst of the situation.  Like a weeping child who is settling down a cry with a hiccup as they calm down.  We don’t even realize that God has taken care of the situation. Are you with me on this?

Sometimes we ARE the storm. (There’s a revelation…).  So God may be saying to you, as Jesus said in Mark 4:39:

“Quiet! Be Still!”

And when we stop crying and listen, peace comes and overflows, because truly as in 1 John 4:4:

“Greater is He who is in me than he that is within the world.”

And there He is, in the center of “our” boat -the Prince of Peace, just waiting for us to allow Him to move us through ANY life situation. Trusting that HE is in control.  If we have made Him our Savior, and Lord over our lives, He IS in control.  And that includes any storms we may encounter.

He IS greater.  Squall – you have no jurisdiction here, in Jesus’ name BE STILL!

And  Beloved, I tell you from personal experience – it will.

“Then Jesus arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” ~ Mark 4:39