Storms of Life

I Kings 19:11-13a - "And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it."

Today I realized something. Every day life takes us by storm. It's not just a blow by, gone in a few minutes kind of storm. It's the type of storm that shakes the foundations, scatters the leaves, and blows your children's toys across the yard.

By the time the storm has passed we are too busy assessing the damage, gathering up the toys, and mending whatever else needs mending. Unfortunately, it goes the same for the storms of life as it does for the storms of nature.

Often we are too busy caught in the storms that we miss what is truly special in life. We are too busy thinking about the storm that has past, when she should be thinking about the sun that is clearing from behind the clouds.

Too many times we are preoccupied by the storms. We're squeezing in a few more hours of overtime at work, cleaning the house, fixing dinner, going to the gym, washing clothes, and having it all finished (including the kids in bed) to catch our favorite primetime lineup-or our tivo'ed soaps.

It's something that I don't believe God is happy with. We need to stop and smell the roses as the saying goes. Stop and see the reward that He has placed in our lives. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 127:3 that children are "His reward."

Wait a second? Out of everything that God has ever created our children is His reward? Well that's what the Bible says.

So maybe we need to stop and cherish the things in life that God deems special. That is something that I experenced today. My wife and I put down everything. I left those possible overtime hours at work, we didn't worry about the messy house, the dirty dishes or the piles of lundry. We simply spent time as a family and had a fun day doing it.

Perhaps we need to search for God much like the way Elijah did. But before we can even search for the Lord we have to stop, rip up the hectic itenerary that we have scheduled, and listen for that still small voice.