1 Corinthians 16:13 —
“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”
A few years ago, Hawaiians were preparing for a huge storm that supposedly would devastate their state. It was coming directly toward them. But then it took a hard turn. In the end, there still was some bad weather, but they were fine.
Ironically, another storm unexpectedly came along a short time later, and it probably did more damage than the first storm.
That’s a lot like life, isn’t it? We brace ourselves for a storm that we expect will come, but it never arrives. Then another storm that we never expected suddenly hits us. This year is a prime example.
Storms will come into our lives, but the good news is that storms have a beginning, a middle and an end.
Maybe you’re just pulling into a storm in your personal life, a hardship. You’re wondering whether it will be a long one. Or maybe you’re in the middle of a storm, and you want to know when it will stop. Then again, maybe you’ve just made it through a storm. You’re glad it’s in your rear view mirror. But you’re also a little concerned about what’s on the horizon.
God will get you through your storms if you’ve built your life on Jesus Christ. And when you’re going through those storms, you’ll learn a little bit, because character is not made in crisis; it is revealed.
The storm reveals who you are and what kind of faith you have.
Sometimes people who went through a hardship or a tragedy in their childhood say that it shook their faith, and it’s the reason they turned against God. But maybe they lost their faith because they never had faith in God.
It comes down to this: a faith that can’t be shaken is a faith that has been shaken. Hardships will come in life, but God will be there to sustain you. So, put your faith in Him.
Character is not made in crisis…it is revealed in crisis!
Prayer: O God, I ask that you help us all to stay faithful and steady, even through the storms that rampage around us. Help us to keep our eyes on you, and our hearts and minds attuned to your voice, which gives us guidance and discernment along our path. We trust you! Help us to be able to put our trust to the test, especially through these storms. May the character of Christ be revealed in and through us, because of the storms we endure. I humble ask this in the strong name of Jesus! Amen.