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The Storm


When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever. (Proverbs 10:25)

          Today’s topic is tough, because of recent events. I’m not trying to attack anyone. I’m trying to give hope. But hope that is not firmly anchored to truth is an illusion. I always want to stay on the truth side of things, which means sometimes others see me as having less compassion than they think I should have. 
          The first truth in today’s passages is that storms sweep by. Life isn’t fair. Things get tough – sometimes tougher than we can handle. Don’t believe that “God won’t give you more than you can handle” garbage, because if He didn’t give us more than we can handle, and especially more than we think we can handle, then we wouldn’t need Him because we would be Him. Storms sweep by. They destroy. 
          There’s a story by C.S. Lewis that deals with the rest of the verse. In The Great Divorce, Prof. Lewis introduces us to a woman who has come from Heaven to the “tourist” area where people from Hell are permitted to visit if they choose. She meets her husband, a tiny being chained to a much larger being. The larger being grumbles and complains indignantly about how he has been abused, misused, and mistreated by everyone including the woman. She talks to the tiny being, who rarely answers and shrinks as they talk. The larger being answers and gets more abusive. Suddenly, the tiny being disappears entirely, leaving only…a Grumble.
          This is the second truth in today’s passage. If you define yourself by the storms you’ve faced, you disappear. All that remains is the “Grumble” or the storm’s wreckage. If the bad things that have happened become the central focus of your life – you no longer exist. But, if your focus is on what is righteous, no matter what goes on around you, you stand firm. 
          I’ve lived this. Things have happened in my life that shouldn’t have happened. They have influenced my behavior for the rest of my life. Even now, it’s a challenge not to define myself in terms of those events. It doesn’t matter what those things were. You might think they’re nothing in comparison to what you’ve experienced, and you’d be right. However, I might think yours would be easy to live with…and I might be right, too. What slams you might not slam me, and vice verse. It’s not about how big storm is – it’s about what you let the storm do to you. Keep living righteously within your life, and the storm doesn’t win.

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