Reflections: Look for God in the storms

I watch the sky for storms. I love a good monsoon thunderstorm. I love the way the rain cools everything off and freshens the whole world. I love the sound of the thunder. I love that the dust gets washed off the driveway. I love the sound of rain on the roof and the windows. I find myself watching for storms every evening.

Beyond the thunder and lightning, the cooling rain and the clean driveway, another thing I love about storms is their creative power. The clouds make designs over our heads. The water makes small rivers in the street. The mud puddles are perfect small lakes. The trees wave in glorious patterns and sometimes they fall down. Sometimes the water washes away the landscaping. Sometimes the storm breaks things. Good and bad, it is all part of the creation process.

I think that God is found in storms. There is a story in the Bible where Jesus was in a boat in the middle of a storm. The story, found in Mark 4, tells of Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee. While on the water, a big storm blew in. There was wind and rain, and Jesus was in the front of the boat, eyes closed. Eventually the disciples get scared and ask Jesus to do something about the storm. He did, and we remember that Jesus was there all along. There was God, right in the middle of the storm.

I think we find Jesus in life’s storms. I do not believe God causes storms to come on us. Usually storms just blow in, although sometimes we drive into them. When the storms do blow in, we find opportunities to encounter the Holy One.

Think back on some of the storms of your life: There were always opportunities to meet God, right? When the kids got in trouble, there was an opportunity to teach a lesson and an opportunity to go in a new direction. You found God. Or think back to the financial crisis in your life: When you found yourself flat broke, you began to think about what was really important and what was not important. God was in the middle of those decisions. And think of when you or a loved one got really sick: You started to realize healing was not entirely found in medicine but also in forgiveness, hope and faith. God was in the middle of that realization, too.