God is Faithful in the little Storms

God is faithful in all things, even the little storms. Nothing happens in our lives that he cannot restore, redeem, and use. I love how I can clearly see His hand even in my hard places.

God used an emotional moment last fall to get my attention.

The storms of life have been extremely present in 2016. Our family has dealt with many struggles: illnesses and medical issues, difficult relationships, family needs, friends’ illnesses, broken appliances, financial challenges that never seem to stop.

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But I have seen beautiful reminders God is faithful in it all.

We spent a lot of the hot southern summer taking turns with broken air conditioners. Both our upstairs and downstairs AC units required repairs,

BUT not at the same time, so we were able to keep the house at a reasonable temperature with creative fan use.

Even in the little storms, I have seen beautiful reminders God is faithful. Click To Tweet

When the blower motor was going to be an expensive fix, the service technician suggested it might still be under the original warranty.

8 days.

Our motor was covered for 8 more days. Even in the financial strains, God reminded me He’s got this. When the other unit seemed to need thousands of dollars of work, it turned out to be a poorly wired cut-off switch.

Hundreds of dollars instead of thousands – both times.

Satan however, seemed to take that as a personal challenge. I can’t even list all the craziness we’ve experienced.

The electronic portion of our dryer now turns itself on, but only to low heat, medium dry for 36 minutes. And beeps randomly to remind you that it is on. I shocked myself unplugging it to make it stop beeping. OUCH.

BUT it will still dry clothes.

If I hold the setting I want while pushing start, I can get a few more choices and my clothes do come out dry. And we laugh about our possessed dryer.

I had to buy a new van because my van was having engine trouble. We bought a used van, no sooner get it home and notice there is a malfunction in the hatch sensor.

But, the dealership is paying for the repairs.

Despite the fact that the repairs have taken months (and we’re awaiting the fourth attempt to solve the problem), it should get done at no cost to us.

When at my wits end, God even pushed me to humbly ask my husband for help, respecting his knowledge and relishing his strength.

So far, I think I’ve handled most of these crises with peaceful calm, knowing we will be okay. We might not always be comfortable, but God is faithfully providing what we really need.

But then, I updated my phone. I had to update my laptop’s operating system to update my iTunes to then update my phone. Knowing the inherent dangers of updating technology, I was frustrated by hundreds of daily reminder notifications, so I bit the bullet, plugged in, clicked update, and . . .

Turned my phone into a very expensive paperweight.

I called Apple support on Friday night at 8:45 p.m. because I couldn’t see how I’d get through my weekend without a phone.

Despite patient and friendly help, we were getting nowhere after two hours. Mike, the tech supervisor, gave me one last suggestion before I had to repair/replace, but he was not optimistic.

I had intentionally focused on honoring God in how I handled the stressful situation, reading bedtime stories and putting my child to bed while on hold. I stayed positive and hopeful while praying my iCloud back up had actually saved all my precious pictures and videos of my sweet girl.

Waiting to see if this last ditch effort would work, inwardly I was emotional and trying not to panic. I madly prayed for peace in this frustrating situation.

At midnight, my husband said goodnight, hugged me and told me he was proud of how I was handling the situation. Before Christ, that never would have happened.

In that moment, I knew my witness was worth WAY more than the phone.

God may allow the storms in our life because it allows for His work in us to be evident. Click To Tweet

God is faithful.

He used that long, awful evening to speak volumes about His work in my heart and life.

 

And then I prayed.

“Lord, thank you for peace during a difficult time. Thank you for helping my actions be evidence of your work in me. Help me continue to handle challenges with grace, but if possible, fix my phone.”

I asked some friends to pray, I’d really like my phone to work and not have to replace it.

Seriously, only minutes later, the computer dinged. And I held my breath when I pressed the home button.

After hours of nothing, my daughter’s face grinned back at me. Relief flooded my heart!

Compared to world peace or salvation for people I love, my broken phone was unimportant.

But yet, God demonstrated He’s in control and was glorified by the faith and peace of Christ I was able to demonstrate. I learned to keep proper perspective and trust Him no matter the size of the obstacle.

In my little storms, God is faithful.

This experience reminded me of Matthew 8:23-27. The disciples and an exhausted Christ set out on the sea after a long day of ministry. A terrifying storm arose while Jesus slept.

Jesus knew the storm was coming, so why did He have them set sail at all?

Despite all they had seen Jesus do, the disciples freaked out.

When the disciples finally woke Jesus, He stopped the storm with His words. Why hadn’t he just prevented it in the first place?

They needed to know who their Jesus is! The one the wind and waves obey.

The storm taught the disciples the power and providence of Christ. They learned to have faith in all things, in all times. They would need this faith after the crucifixion.

The disciples learned to trust Him in the storms to come because they survived this one.

The storm wasn’t an accident for the disciples or for me. God isn’t surprised when things happen to us.

And we shouldn’t be either.

God uses the storms to instruct, prepare, demonstrate, witness. God is faithful, beautifully working through all our little storms, so our faith is strengthened and our lives reflect Him.

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