I don’t know much about storms. Not like my aspiring-meteorologist college friend who was strangely energized by news of impending inclement weather. While the rest of us were scrambling for shelter, he was running to the scene of action in hopes of witnessing creation’s power firsthand.

I don’t know much about fires. Not like my childhood friend’s father, who lived and breathed firefighting. He would spend days on end at the fire station, awaiting the opportunity to come to someone’s rescue.

I don’t know much about storms or fires, not in the physical sense. But I’ve been through enough spiritual storms to have learned something of worth, and I’ve lived long enough in the fires of affliction to have gleaned words of hope from the ashes.

I do know that Jesus was on the boat with the disciples when that furious squall arose, and I know he was able to speak to the wind and the waves, calming them with the power of his voice. And I know that though God did not keep the three exile boys from the fiery furnace, he was there with them in the midst, and they emerged unscathed.

I can’t tell you that God will grant you a life free of storms. And I can’t say you’ll never go through the fire.

But I can tell you one thing: He will be with you in the midst.

As the disciples welcomed Jesus onto their boat, and as the exiles bid God to meet them in the fire, so we have the opportunity to welcome him into our storms and our fires.

He will not always calm the storm, and he won’t always extinguish the fire. But His word says that you will seek Him and find Him when you seek Him with all your heart.

If we seek him in time of storm or fire, we will find him there. And if the only hope we have is to know that he is with us, it is more than enough.

Photo Credit: Lightning – Free images on Pixabay