How to Prepare for a Storm

Posted by David Whitten on August 31, 2011 under Staff |

How to Prepare for a Storm

First I want to tell you that I missed worshiping with you last Sunday and I look forward to our fellowship this Sunday.

Since Irene blew through here last Saturday night I thought I’d like to share some thoughts about how to weather a storm. It is obvious that I am not qualified to instruct you on the preparation for a hurricane like Irene. I’ll leave that to Jim Cantore and the experts at the weather channel. I would like to offer some suggestions on how to weather the storms of life. These I have a little personal experience in. Many of which I have found my faith stronger after the winds of these storms have died down.

You can be sure that if you live long enough you will face storms that will challenge your faith. I’d like to share some storm tips to help you weather these storms.

Even Don Slater will advise you that the time to prepare for a storm is not when you see the wind blowing and the rain pouring. Prepare ahead of time. I would have never made it through the storms I have faced,  if I had not known to hunker down in the knowledge of God’s Word that had been planted in my heart long before the storms started brewing.

So, how do we prepare for these storms?

• The most important tool to protect us from the winds we will surly face is having a firm grasp on God’s Word. That means we must be students. Invest time my friends in the truth. We do this by having a daily practice in reading our bibles. It has been surprising that the scriptures I have studied before my storms have come have been the very words of truth that have helped me when I have been challenged.

Psa 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

In the storm it gets dark God’s Word is a light in that darkness. May we learn to have a habit of ingesting a healthy portion of this food for our spirit so we may stand strong when the lightening of doubt flashes and the thunder of temptation rolls in.

• Surround yourself with godly friends. Accountability is a great strategy to have when we are tempted to give in to sin or when depression hits and we feel like giving up. A good godly friend can make the difference in our faith and can hold us accountable to the commitment we have made in Christ. God has given me some great friends to help me through the personal storms I have faced. I thank God for Chris Sowers, Dan Magan, Beau McFarlin, Merlin Swartzentruber, Greg Jennings, Michelle Davis, Beth Dodson, Becky Wilson and my best friend Carol Whitten. These people have been like gold to me. They have told me the truth when I believed a lie. They have held me up in prayer when all I wanted to do is fall down. They made me listen to the whole council of God’s word when His truth hurt.

Sure they were there when times were good and they laughed and rejoiced with me but the true measure of a friend is when the howls of the storm come in and these rush in when others run away.  As Proverbs 27:17 tells us “As iron sharpens iron,  so one person sharpens another.”

I strongly recommend that you find a few godly friends who you meet with regularly that will build you up, that you have the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with in their struggles. You will find that doing life with these people will help you stay strong when you are tempted to give in.

Proverbs 12:26 teaches us “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”

It is important to be intentional in choosing you friends. Be selective. Just as a good friend can help you in dark times, bad friends can help your dark times get darker. Choose well.

• Lastly in our storm preparations before the storms come we must call on the one who can command the wind and rains. Having a healthy prayer life builds the relationship you have established with God through Christ. It has never been about religion to God it is about a relationship. This is the wonderful mystery that God has made known to us through Christ (Eph. 1:9) He desires all to come to him. All to be his people and He their God. This relationship is built primarily through prayer.

You think about your closest friendships, aren’t these the people that you spent the most time talking to? If you want to get close to God then, spent time talking to him.

James teaches us “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8 NIV). The best way to come close to God is through constant, consistent prayer.

Many times we wait to pray to God while we are in the midst of our storm. We call out “God help”, and we don’t understand why God feels distant. It is because we don’t have a regular habit of drawing near to God. Our God is not a God of convenience. He doesn’t stand behind a glass that says “break only in time of emergency”. God is much more accessible when we have taken time to know God before the storm hits.

I have found that my time spent in prayer in the storms I have faced were more bearable  when I have spent significant time on my knees way before the storm rolled in.

Before Irene started howling through here my family took the time to secure the yard furniture, buy batteries, bottled water and tune in to the weather channel. These preparations before the storm made the aftermath way more manageable. Likewise, these few things we practice before the storms of life blow, will have the ability to stay strong during the storm and the sun will shine a little brighter after the clouds have cleared away.

See You Sunday!

Dave