The Calm After the Storm

Calm. Tranquility. Quiet. These are things we all need on a daily basis. Recently I’ve been getting more of them than I’ve had in a long time, due to being on holiday for a few weeks and living at home with my mum and sister. Naturally, the load is lightened from my shoulders as I no longer have to look after all things pertaining to my existence. The kitchen is well-stocked to feed me when I’m hungry. The hot water is always available and the spare toilet means that I never have to wait to use the facilities. The internet connection is faultless, the house is clean and although outside it is bitterly Scotland, inside the house is always warm. On a more serious note I’m so, so grateful for these blessings and pray that I would never take them for granted. 

This period of rest, where I have little to do but meet social engagements, help my mum around the house, get back into a sort of fitness plan and allow myself to recover from a hectic year, has given me time to look at different things in my life in a new, clearer light. Let’s take, for example, my general outlook on difficult circumstances. I believe that over this year I’ve actually managed to let something of an ever-so-slightly pessimistic attitude creep in. It goes against the core of my being and my personality to be so taken up with the dirt under my feet that I forget to look up at the stars. But it can happen. When you’re busy and don’t have time to ‘sort out your head’ (which is something I feel one ought to do regularly; take a brief analysis of the thoughts going around and see if any need rooting out), thoughts can grow up like weeds until they’re a great, big, tangled mess. Sometimes you don’t notice them until this great, big, tangled mess is beginning to kill your joy and sap the life out of you. 

I think these ‘weeds’ in my own life have often been a vague sense of ‘this will never get any better’, ‘my life will be one big stream of one bad thing after another’ and an even subtler ‘God doesn’t really care that I’m suffering and I shouldn’t be expecting anything good in case I get disappointed.’ I think these thoughts have to be fought tooth-in-nail as they are highly damaging. Yes bad things happen, and they will always happen, but thankfully they will be woven in to the tapestry of our life with joys and great, wonderful things which exceed our greatest hopes and imaginings.

We shouldn’t constantly expect bad things to happen.  That just saps the joy out of everything. We need to remember all the encouraging verses in the Bible which tell us things like, “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. .” Jeremiah 29:11, and, “But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [^[a]who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed]. .” (1 Corinthians 2:9) and, “Saying, Blessing I certainly will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you." (Hebrews 6:14) We need to remember that He is the giver of all good things, the bestower of life, the One who loves us most in all the world and who wants the very best for us. Reminding ourselves of these truths will give us hope to hold onto during more difficult times in our lives. Everything happens in seasons, and bad seasons pass away like clouds after a storm. Inevitably the storms of life will damage our sails, but then God will lead us into quieter waters where He can repair us and make us fit and whole again to continue along the journey with strength, joy and hope.