The pressure hits first, intense sweating ensues, and you realize that you feel sticky and clammy. Unless you live in an area of high humidity you would probably not even notice this stage, but the barometer is changing. A nature check at this point might give you some direction. You will notice the birds chirping loudly as if shouting a warning to “watch out.” Later on this will be followed by a stillness, an unusual quietness as nature pregnantly prepares and the grey clouds stealthily roll in, quietly blanketing the sky with a sense of foreboding.
Storms, they can sneak in like this one above, where the clear blue sky becomes cloudy and the sky gets thicker, heavier and denser with the white fluffy ones, turning grey to charcoal at some stages looking angry and even black. You may be able to see walls of water, hail or even snow dropping out of the sky in areas around you. In situations like this you get a chance to prepare, you see the storm and you know it is coming. Time to batten the hatches, close the windows, doors, and call in the kiddos and the animals.
Other times storms appear quickly, intensely with no warning and a harshness that takes you by surprise.
People have a fascination with storms, perhaps it is more a fascination with nature itself. In a storm, nature becomes wild and untameable so that we are left defenseless in the face of the power of a storm. Hopefully we can bunker down safely, warmly in our homes until it passes.
And they do…. “Pass.” Storms do not stay for long periods of time (usually), they only need minutes or longer to reek havoc in our world.
I was driving towards Dawson Creek and looked off to my left and saw this incredible storm coming in and over. I stopped to take a few pictures as I watched it approach, it was coming fast and it was mesmerizing.
When I got back to my car I happened to turn around and there just up the road, perhaps not even 2 kilometres the sky was wide open blue, and sunny. I smiled to myself as I thought, “I guess it matters just what way I turn as to what my eyes see. If I do not like what is in front of me, I can simply turn around.”
I mentioned it to Brian and he said, “Change the input and that changes the output.” Brilliant!
If I had stayed and stood there staring at the storm watching and waiting to see what it would do, I would have been fixated and given that storm power in my life. I would have gotten anxious, worried, and eventually had to run for the car!
What we fix our eyes on, we give power to, it is that which controls us. We think “Oh I have to loose weight!” and we fixate on it and give more power to it, then we feel defeated quickly.
All I had to do was turn half a turn and there was no storm, no weather to worry about and I could have stayed in peace and calm.
The storms of life are like that too, aren’t they?
We do a bank account check (instead of a nature check) and find that as the number is dropping there is more month left than dollars. A sense of worry, frustration and perhaps even panic if there are bills to be paid.
A Dr. check up could give us some information that we did not want to hear. We listen intently and then watch as the grey to black storm clouds come wandering in in our minds. Threatening to dispel any peace we might have had. If I stay in this place very long, I will succumb to anxiety, worry and fear and possibly depression.
What if we turned, even half a turn and placed our eyes on something different so that our focus is not on our fear, on our illness, on our bank account or on whatever is ailing us.
The sun could very well be shining just 2 kilometres away and we might miss it.
You see the bank account, the illness, the weigh loss, the actual storm will pass, they will move on, not without consequences, but they will move on. Do we ignore the storms, oh no, that is not what I am trying to say.
I am saying that storms will come and storms will go and there is not a lot that we can do to stay out of their way. But, we can let our focus dwell on the storms and never see a break in the clouds or we can simply tuck away safely, and turn and watch the sun come up while we wait out the storm securely.
When it is done, we can evaluate the damage, the clean up and the consequences but while we wait, we need to keep our focus on the true “Son” and His ability to quiet any storm. You see the wind and waves all still know His name.
Comments