IN THE STORMS AND OUT, TRUST IN HIM
Psalm 46:1-3 & 11
God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.
11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.
It's been a tough winter in the Great Lakes and Midwest regions of the country. They have suffered greatly from terribly heavy snowfalls. The giant storm that buried much of Michigan last week, dropped nearly 4 feet on my house. Much of our wildlife has been under enormous strain.
A few years back, at our house, we fed approximately 40 deer and 35-40 turkeys through the winter. They got corn, quality alfalfa and some high protein pelletized food. Many of the deer and turkeys may have died without the food being supplied by individuals in our area. Its been the same case this winter.
Next to the garage in my back yard stands a 6 ton capacity grain bin containing corn. Each day when the deer would hear the auger running as we filled buckets, they would run towards the yard and wait until we were back in the house. As soon as it was safe they would be eating. The last couple of days the weather has been much milder and I've noticed a trend.
At the end of winter, the deer that are still hanging around the places where they've been fed, will stay back in the woods watching as the food is put out. They no longer will run to the feed. They don't come to feed much at all. The activity level will dropped considerably. The wildlife doesn't seem to have an urgency to consume the food they need.
What an example this is of most people when it comes to their relationship with God. When we feel trouble coming on us, i.e. we get bad news from the doctors, our marriage is rocked or we lose our job etc... we suddenly look to God to rescue us from whatever it is that is oppressing us. We cry out for His help and even those that rarely open His word start reading their Bibles. We know that we can count on a God that loves us and we suddenly attempt to rely on His goodness and power.
However, after a while things calm down, the medical treatments begin working, our relationship smooths over and we find a new job. Things are getting better. Somehow we slowly slide back into the pattern we were in before the trouble started. Our prayer life slows down or ends all together, our Bible goes back on the shelf and we become too busy for church. We are no longer in need of God to answer our urgent prayers.
Like the deer in back yard we get comfortable in the nice warm sunshine of our life. It's almost as if we never faced a hard time. We stand back in the distance looking on, knowing that if we need to be fed again, we can call on God to fill our needs.
But this is the wrong attitude. We all have friends and family that we only hear from when they are in need of our help. We could go for months and months without hearing from them and when we see their name on the caller ID on the phone, we know they need something. That feels somewhat hurtful. Now consider when we rush to God only in our time of need. This is the same God that gave us our very life and the same God that was willing to sacrifice His own Son so we can have a relationship with Him. He held back nothing from us, His children, and yet we ignore him until the storms of life bury what we need. It's only then that we rush to Him for our needs.
1st Chronicles 16:11 tells us to go to the Lord continually, not just in times of trouble... "Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!"
Our God is there for us in the hard times of life, but our relationship with Him should be so much more. Learn to stay with Him to be fed in the good times and bad. Learn to remain fed when there is plenty in our lives and when the storms of life come we are already strong in the Lord.
John 15:7
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Abide, or remain, in God all the time and we can know that He has gone before us in the storms and we will remain fed in the good times and bad.
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