Newness of Life in Life's Storms.

As I think about and pray for the people in Oklahoma this week, who have faced the fierce storms wreaking havoc in neighborhoods and lives, I reflect on how storms blow into life sometimes, sometimes so unexpectedly.
  Walking in newness of life compels me to have a made-up mind, drawing strength from God, who calms storms and circumstances and holds us in the midst of them.
  In Arizona, not many thunderstorms and dangerous windstorms show themselves. Only the dust storms blast through in the hottest parts of summer, but rarely leave devastating marks on lives. Storms are inevitable though, anywhere you live. Each life also has storms of varying degrees that can bring destruction.
  Robert Murray McCheyne wrote, "You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast wilderness.  He is like a rock rising above the storm.  He is like a rose blooming in the midst of desolation."
  "He calms the storm, so that its waves are still."- Psalm 107:29
  To see the calm and know the stillness of our soul, we can do well to remember, realign and relax.
  We can remember a few thing about God's unending lovingkindness.  Remembering Him in our more prosperous times as the source of our blessings helps us not to doubt Him when struggles show up.  Remembering also that sometimes we have more troubles with ourselves that with anyone else helps us to run to God in repentance and run towards others with compassion and charity.
  As we examine ourselves and get refreshed by God in reading His Word and trusting Him more, we realign with His purpose for us, helping us in the midst of any storm.
  And we learn to relax, discarding worries that seem to weigh us down in our walk, as we trust God's promises to us.  One way to do so is to remember the Sabbath. A time that is essential and not just a suggestion, but actually our reasonable expectation, a command of truth that we can learn to hold to.
 
A prayer:
Father in Heaven, please help me to face all the tough things with resilience and to look to You in dependency.  I need Your strength.  In Jesus's name, Amen.