Shelter in the Storms
I love to dance in the rain.
I do believe there is something so freeing and also ‘against the grain’ about it. To just embrace the rain and dance to your own tune. This is something that I taught our boys at an early age. When they were little they loved putting on their boots and stomping in the puddles with the rain coming down their faces. As they got older we lost the boots and danced more than stomping. Now they do about anything when it is raining and find a child-like joy in getting soaked while playing.
We can’t dance in the rain when the storm is violent.
We must take shelter. But inside we can still dance ~
In the shelter is where rejoicing ushers in a freeing dance, while all around us is out of our control as it thunders and the winds howl.
When I think of this I think of one of my favorite scenes in the “Sound of Music” when they come into Maria’s room because they are all fearful of the storm outside and she begins to let them dance, jump and sing “A Few Of My Favorite Things”. Can’t you see it? If you can see it, you can feel the fear leave and joy enter.
I am convinced that when we need shelter the Lord is waiting for us to humbly run to Him, and when we do we get more of Jesus and here is where we find Joy. Joy in knowing that He is with us. And like children, we can dance and sing without fear.
If you know me, you know I can not carry a tune to save my life but I still sing. Why because I can and I have something to sing about and in that worship, I find shelter in His name. Music is a big part of our lives and it influences us in so many ways. Find freedom in singing and dancing, in this I want to let God be God, so I can just be me.
So I ask, what do we do when the storm becomes violent? What truth do we seek?
And…
Is our God strong enough to deliver us from temptation?
In the Lords Prayer, we ask for the Lord to deliver us from temptations and keep us from evil. Do we believe that He is powerful enough to do what we pray for? Do we trust Him enough for us to trust what He says and to do things in a way that God would be pleased with and not please ourselves but be delivered from temptation?
I know the danger and I know where to find shelter.
Pslam 47 O clap your hands, all peoples;Shout to God with the voice of joy.2 For the Lord Most High is to be feared,A great King over all the earth.3 He subdues peoples under usAnd nations under our feet.4 He chooses our inheritance for us,The glory of Jacob whom He loves.5 God has ascended with a shout,The Lord, with the sound of a trumpet.6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;Sing praises to our King, sing praises.7 For God is the King of all the earth;Sing praises with a skillful psalm.8 God reigns over the nations,God sits on His holy throne.9 The princes of the people have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham,For the shields of the earth belong to God;He is highly exalted.
My confidence, even though it may be weak at times is in knowing He is able and I am not. Why, because I can not keep evil away, only by His name can evil be overcome.
Storms are not evil unless used for evil.
I can sing joyously in a storm even in the shelter.
That, beloved, is trust and obedience that leads us into a safe place.
Find joy in the Shelter and rejoice in His provisions, He is not finished with us yet.
Psalm 91 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will anot fear, though bthe earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. 6 The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He braised His voice, the earth melted. 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold.8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations in the earth. 9 He amakes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. 10 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be bexalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold.