The Calm After the Storm: Trusting His Promises

Some say there's a calm before the storm.

For some, the calm is in the dead-middle of the storm (i.e. hurricanes #FloridaGirl).

For others still, the calm comes after the storm.

As of yesterday and early this morning, I'd categorize myself in the last of those three options. When you experience a calm after a storm, you can't really do anything else except to be thankful you're okay, praise God for His protection, and learn to trust in His promises a little more the next time.

I seem to be getting ahead of myself here, so let me back up and start here:

I know the promises of God.

I've read all of them.

Heard stories on them as a child.

No, I couldn't quite give you an exact number of promises recorded in the Bible. (Perhaps, that's something I should work on tallying up.) But I've heard them. And I know them (exact numbers and tally marks aside). Since I grew up in church, hearing the promises of God is just something I got used to. And probably, if you grew up in church as well, you did too.

While hearing the promises of God is an easy one to check off the list of our going-to-church-as-a-kid experiences, believing and actually trusting in the promises of God, however, is "a whole 'nother ball game." It's the stuff life is made of.

Recently, I ran across this quote from the Bible, which stated, "He who promised is faithful."This statement is great because it tells us a couple things about Him:

1. He, obviously referring to God/Jesus, has made some promises.

2. He. is. faithful. to. carry. out. His. promises.

The great (and sometimes not-so-great) thing about promises is this: they're dependent upon the character of the one who's making them. If a trustworthy person makes a promise, you've got yourself a deal as equivalently good and as true as an old man's handshake. If an untrustworthy person makes a promise, you've got a hope and a prayer they'll come through. But ultimately, you're probably just left with disappointment and a hot mess of feelings and thoughts aimed to answer the question, "How could you do this to me again?!?" (For some reason, the phrase, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" comes to mind.) So yeah, we should all probably make a pact to avoid buying into the promises of those kinds of people. I digress… but what I'm getting at is this: 

All in all, the sheer value of promises rest in the one who makes them.

In this case, the value of the promises in the Bible rest on the One who made them.

I typically believe God's promises, but yesterday was a close, close call. What you are about to see and read is what I've affectionately named #FloridaFlood2013. You'll soon see why.

The promise of God that so-readily came to my mind yesterday was the one He gave to Noah concerning the building of the Arc and the whole never-flooding-the-Earth-again deal.

No big deal, right? 

Answer #1. Right. 

The Earth will never be flooded all-at-once again. That's a promise. From a God. Who keeps His promises. So, yes, of course. That's never going to happen again. And yes, for sure, that's a comforting thing.

Answer #2: Errr, wrong.

When I looked out my window and saw this:

And this:

You want to know what the first thought that crossed my mind was? "God promised to never flood the whole Earth again. Wait. My neighborhood isn't the whole Earth. We're going dooooowwwn." 

As I continued to look out my window, I saw neighbors who were probably thinking the same crazy thoughts because some of them were doing some pretty crazy things. Some were outside driving in it, not realizing how deep and wide it really was out there. Some were in ga-loshes, working to fix the drain and help the whole problem disappear. Some apparently didn't get the memo that it was only Saturday, and they started baptizing each other in the new-found river. (Just kidding.) 

As I began to watch everything unfolding, I wanted to get on the crazy-bandwagon of the give-me-something-to-do-about-this rainy-day-parade. I began to think of ways I could help. I began to get my scuba gear in tact…. until I began to realize that I didn't have scuba gear. So, really, I just began to raid my closet for my Target rain boots. Those would definitely somehow come in handy at a time like this. They would come in handy, that is, if I had a real desire to actually get out there, get down and dirty, and do something serious about the flood. I didn't. Instead, I soon found myself choosing a whole different route altogether. Though I was thankful for those who were literally working in the trenches in the pouring-down rain to solve the problem, I simply sat inside and began to worry.

At this point, I must sadly admit that my mind reminded me of Kelly Minter, the writer of my current Bible study on Nehemiah, and the floods she talked about infiltrating her hometown of Nashville quite a few years ago. My mind decided to take a fast-forward hike to a scene of my dad, my sister, and me sitting on top of our roof waiting for helicopters to rescue us from the house on the street that used-to-be Rose Hill Drive South. I thought of all the childhood memories our house contained. I thought of all the junk I would miss, should it be flooded out. (Yes, I'm being very serious here.)

I prayed. Asked God to protect me, my house, my family, my neighbors. But I was still anxious for some reason. I had nervous energy I simply couldn't explain away. Perhaps, scenes and images like this had something to do with it.

I looked up an online hour-by-hour forecast of the rain and realized there was no storm-stopping-point in sight for several hours. It continued off and on all throughout the night, actually.

I went to bed slightly concerned and slightly comforted, if that makes any sense. I may or may not have slept with a beach towel over me instead of a bed comforter. When my mom came into my room and asked what was going on, I explained I wanted to be prepared in case the floods continued to rise. She simply said she didn't know what she was going to do with me. haha.

But, with all the flooded-craziness fading into yesterday, do you know what happened when I awoke this morning? I saw dry land. I felt sunshine. I heard birds chirping. I saw cars driving seamlessly down the once-canaled road. I sensed calmness. I felt peace. I remembered God. And I began to rest in His promises.

I remembered His goodness. I remembered His grace. 

I re-realized His love for the world in the times of Noah and His continuous love for the world in the times of Rosemary. :) 

I began to revel in His overwhelming desire to give this thing called the human race a second chance. and a third. and a fourth. and…. you get the idea….

He'll never flood the Earth again. He promised. The value of His promises rest in Who He is.

He is trustworthy.

He is worthy of all our praises. and. so. much. more.

I'm glad He's chosen to promise to never flood the Earth again. I'm also thankful that He used a flood on Rose Hill Drive to capture my attention of the value of His promises once again.

I wonder, what promise of God do you need to refresh in your heart, mind, soul, and life today? Hopefully, it won't take a flood or some other extreme "act of God" to get you back on track.

Maybe today, you need to take off the beach towel of your own worries, laugh at how silly and ridiculous worrying makes you look, wake up to Who He is, and experience the peace and the calmness that He alone can bring to your life.

Take off your Target rain boots and reliance on self-work.
Stop hiking through the what-if's and other made-up scenarios of life. 
Stop wondering about all the junk you could lose.
And choose to simply rest in what He says is true. 
Trust His promises. 
Trust His character. 
Trust Who He is.

Trust. Him. More. #FloridaFlood2013