Description
By this stage of life most of us have experienced our fair share of life storms along the way. But our capacity to weather even the everyday storms of life changes as we age. Another aspect that changes is that by this time the accumulative effect of a lifetime of storms and bad news can be more overwhelming. Combine this with potential personal disillusionments and they can hit us a bit harder than when we were younger, it can become a perfect storm. In this episode we want to focus on strategies to help each of us weather the inevitable storms of life, with a particular emphasis on dealing with these storms as we enter our latter season of life.
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Video Script
Episode 6 Intro: Storms of Life
By this stage of life most of us have experienced our fair share of life storms along the way. But our capacity to weather even the everyday storms of life changes as we age. Another aspect that changes is that by this time the accumulative effect of a lifetime of storms and bad news can be more overwhelming. Combine this with potential personal disillusionments and they can hit us a bit harder than when we were younger, it can become a perfect storm. In this episode we want to focus on strategies to help each of us weather the inevitable storms of life, with a particular emphasis on dealing with these storms as we enter our latter season of life.
A New Reality
If you are following along in the workbook we are now on page 18. As most people, by this stage of life you have likely experienced your share of life’s storms. Being a believer does not make us exempt from the storms of life, as long as we live on this earth we will experience them. Now when we were younger we often could take these storms in stride and they did not set us back as much emotionally, or create the fear that storms later in life can produce. When we were younger we were driven by our dreams and future anticipation of God’s plan in our lives. Yet as we age we can feel more vulnerable. Our physical and mental health issues can cause us to question God’s future plan for our lives and wonder how many more storms we can actually endure.
Perhaps storms that we took as a mere challenge in our younger years, may now seem more existential. Kind of reminds me of the story of the disciples crossing the sea of Galilee with Jesus in Mark 4. Might be important to remember that these were seasoned sailors, or at least most of them were. In any case, I am sure it was not their first storm. Yet this storm was so intense that they feared for their very lives. (Mark 4:35-41)
Of course the context is that they had just spent a day ministering to the crowds, which is why Jesus suggested they take the boat to the other side of the lake for some rest. As we know, he also was tired and fell asleep in the boat. Mark records that the storm came out of nowhere, just kind of like many storms in our own lives. When these storms come, if we have not been in daily connection with Jesus, it is also easy to join these early disciples in wondering if Jesus really cares. If the storm gets bad enough and prolonged enough, even the best of us can give way to fear and despair. What do we do when we lose the hope that we will get to the other side?
Jesus is in the Boat
But at the beginning of the journey, Jesus had said, “Let’s go to the other side.” The destination was not in question, just like our destination is not in question. But when life takes a turn we did not expect we can begin to question if we will make it. Storms do not mean we are not in God’s will. After all, they were in the boat with Jesus, but experienced the kind of fear only those who have been in real life threatening storms can relate to. When these storms come out of nowhere its can cause us to lose hope that we will finish the race set before us. Remember Paul’s shipwreck on the way to Rome? Things looked pretty bleak.
During those times it is easy to forget that he promised us his peace in the midst of the storms, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Jn. 14:27 (Jn. 16:33) As we saw in a previous episode, if we have not kept our spiritual wells free of debris, these storms can hit us even harder. Like the disciples, we can question his love and care for us, or even his ability and interest to help us through the storm. Storms that we may have laughed at, or seen as merely a challenge or adventure in our younger years, now have the potential to capsize our boat.
When the storms of life inevitably hit us, they reveal what we have built our foundation on. In the disciples’ case it was fear rather than faith in Jesus. He asked them, “Where is your faith?” Jesus promises to take us to the other side, but he has not promised that there will be no storms along the way. He has promised to be with us in the storm and give us his peace along the way. While we don’t know the future, as we maintain a hope that God still has a plan for our lives, we can have faith that he will take us through any storm. (1 Peter 5:7)
So how about you,
What storms are you currently dealing with? Even though you know Jesus, are there areas that you fear or have a lack of trust in God’s undertaking in the situation? How has this affected you at this stage of your life?
Our Firm Foundation
The Bible is clear that storms in life are inevitable. James 1:2 encourages us to consider it joy when tests and challenges come our way for they produce maturity in us. Even Jesus learned through suffering and so, as his servants, we also will need to learn to walk that road (Heb. 5:8). It is during these storms that we find out if our lives are built on a firm foundation.
In all our busyness of life and ministry it is possible to neglect looking after the foundations in our lives. It usually happens little by little, not all at once. But without the right foundation we cannot build the courage, hope, perseverance and stability that we need for when the storm hits. When we were younger perhaps we were able to weather some storms with sheer will power and our own fortitude, fulfilling our vision with our own wisdom. But for most of us, at some point a storm will come along that will shake us to our foundations.
In addition, as we age we face storms we never thought would affect us. At those times, Paul encourages us to “. . . not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor. 4:16-17) He knew that Jesus was in the boat with him and was actually using this storm to refine him and make more like Jesus. (Isa. 48:10; Mal. 3:3). We are actually not to be surprised by the storm (1 Peter 4:12), as with his first disciples, he is wanting us to grow in our faith in Him through the storm (1 Peter 1:7).
It is these times that make us into the person that can better love God and serve others. I don’t know about you, but I have learned much more through sufferings than any of my successes. Might be good to pause again and consider,
As you spend some time in prayer are there areas of the foundation of your life that have shown cracks and areas you need to re-align to get back to trusting God that way you used to?
Have you tried to avoid suffering in your life or embraced it as a gift from God? Have you consistently put your faith and reliance on God?
Hope in the Storm
The enemy of our souls knows us and knows exactly how to design a storm tailored specifically for our fears and weaknesses. He knows what buttons to push in our lives and what is closest to our heart. My storm may seem like nothing to you and what you struggle with, I may find easier to deal with. But whatever our storm, if we lose hope that God still has a purpose in our lives we will question whether we will be able to navigate the storm. We will not be sure that we will make it to the other side as Jesus promised. (Prov. 14:32)
It is during these times that we need to go back and re-dig any spiritual “wells of living water” that we may have neglected. You see the degree of fear we experience in the storm is an indication of how much confidence we actually have in God and his continued purposes in our lives. These storms have a way of showing us those areas in our lives that we have never given to God or perhaps have struggled with on and off throughout our life. Fear is the opposite of faith and so our fear indicates an area we do not fully trust God and his character.
Job dealt with this didn’t he? In his dark valley he says something that is pretty telling about his thought life, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.” (Job 3:25-26) Before we are too hard on Job, we might want to remember that we also have likely thought this at times. This is in contrast to Paul’s admonishment, which has become a favourite of mine during dark times, he says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7)
God’s peace is available in the storm, but to have his peace we need to be connected to him, connected to the vine so that we can receive from him. I am sure you have had times of experiencing his peace even while the storm was raging around you. These storms point out our need of God. When things are going well we can get lulled into thinking we can live life in our own strength, with our own experience and wisdom, but eventually a specific storm tailor made for us will test us at our core. During our final third of life, we are not immune from storms, regardless of how successful we may have been in previous storms. At this stage of life when we feel a bit more vulnerable, storms that at one point were mere challenges can overwhelm us.
Peace is Possible
God has promised that when we feel overwhelmed and filled with anxiety he will be there and act on our behalf. Our responsibility is to simply trust in him with everything in our being. This includes learning to manage our thought life. Back to Phil 4, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Phil. 4:8-9) As Isaiah writes, peace comes from having our mind steadfast on Him. (Isa. 26:3).
This is part of our responsibility to evaluate what we allow into our mind, which may include how much time we spend on our devices and screens and what feeds we may follow. We may be able to eliminate the majority of our anxiety and concerns by just spending more time with the Lord than we do the news and the noise of all the political commentary or whatever it is that you need to do to daily refocus on eternal rather than temporal matters.
You may be going through a storm right now that seems like it may overwhelm you. It may be something you never thought you would have to go through at this stage of your life. Now the last thing you need is “3 steps to success” or some proof text from Scripture to repeat as a mantra. I fully understand that it is not so easy. I have been there in the boat with the early disciples yelling above the sound of the wind and the waves, “Where are you Jesus! Don’t you care that I might go under here!”
Yet we are not totally helpless. As we turn our attention to the Master of the storm, he has promised to be there with us. This takes faith in his word over my circumstances and disciplining our mind to focus on him, which requires taking time to reconnect with God. But as we fear him, or respect and reverence him, we will discover that the fear of the storm will become less and less.
We will then experience new hope being restored within us. A hope that God still has a plan and purpose for our lives and that this storm in our lives will not sink us, but will empower us to go to the other side. That is a supernatural experience and until you have experienced it for yourself it is hard to explain. It does not compute with human logic. But in the storms of life this is exactly what we need, a supernatural intervention. This intervention begins with a change in my focus and believing Jesus’ words above and beyond what I see raging around me in my life. I can then takes steps to guard my heart and all the other disciplines that contribute to peace.
Even in our latter stages of life we will have storms and even though we have gone through many of them, they may seem even more intense during this season of our life. But rest assured, God is still with you and he still has a plan and purpose for your life. Don’t believe any lies to the contrary. It may not happen overnight, but if you consistently change your focus and switch from relying on ourselves to Jesus, we will experience his supernatural peace.
As we conclude our episode, here are a few things to think about,
If you are in the midst of a storm that seems overwhelming meditate on Scripture and spend time with God to give him your fears and allow his peace to speak to your storm.
Longer term, determine which of your spiritual “wells” have become silted up and need re-digging.
Next time we want to continue discussing some of the challenges we face during this stage of life. Our goal is to re-dig some wells so that in the second half of our series we can rediscover the purpose God has for our life. Only then will we finish our race successfully. As always, I hope you’ll be able to join me.