Listening for God in the Midst of the Storm

Yesterday, while driving home in the rain, I turned off the radio to focus on listening for God. I was in traffic and in prayer for a friend facing a storm of her own. I wanted time to pray without all the distractions. So, in the midst of a downpour beating on my van, with wiper blades frantically working to keep my view clear, I took some quiet time so I could really focus on talking to God.

It is hard enough to believe we can “hear” God speak in a physical storm of thunder and lighting. It’s almost unthinkable that we can “hear” God in the midst of the storms that threaten to overwhelm us.

It is often in the storm that God speaks.

Our family recently went through a stormy season. We were shaken to our core and could have easily let the noise around us tear us apart. If we hadn’t been looking for it, we probably would have missed it when God spoke.

Wouldn’t it be nice if His voice was as loud as the thunder? Or as clear as a flash of lightning?

But, that’s not how He speaks.

For me, He spoke through the church family that came to mow the yard each week so I could focus on other things.

He spoke through the friends that helped by paying several months of the mortgage, so I didn’t have to worry.

God spoke to me through the friends who rallied around us and encouraged us. Friends who never once made me feel “less than” because of our situation.

We have to change the way we view the storms of life.

So often, We miss His message and maybe even an opportunity to grow through our trial, because we overlook the blessings all around us and only focus on our struggle.

James 1:2-4 details how God wants us to view the trials in our life. James tells us to change the way we think about our storms because they will come! When we focus on God and allow Him to show us the little blessings during the storm, we build the endurance we need for whatever comes next.

One season of storms we faced led to our adventure with homeschooling. What storms have you faced recently? What blessings did God show you in the midst of them? If you haven’t seen the blessings yet, keep looking. They’re there.