“Yes, I carried you.”
How do you prepare for a storm?
Developing hurricanes provide days to prepare for the impending devastation. Other storms, like Earthquakes and Tornados, do not always provide ample warning.
The storms we encounter in life are often similar in nature. Some storms, We can clearly see approaching. As the relationship deteriorates or health declines, we prepare for what may come.
Sudden storms, though, can catch us by surprise. Blindsided, we are left staggering and stunned. Even with our best-prepared plan for the unexpected, our faith can be shaken, and the struggle remains real.
Time passes.
Hurt turns to healing. Bitterness turns to anger. Brokeness moves to wholeness. Devastation moves to depression.
The outcome after a storm can be as unpredictable as the storm itself.
How does one recover from the storms of life when the hurricane-force winds leave our lives in a heap of rubble piled on the curb? Stripped of normalcy, we wonder, “Where do we go from here?”
PERSPECTIVE
How significantly does our perspective influence our understanding of the impact of a storm that has swept through our lives?
Perspective is “a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.” (Merriam-Dictionary) Perspective is a noun and a solid way to identify a situation. Our perspective is ours to choose and establish.
The effects after a storm can be felt for days, months, and even years. How we interpret a storm’s aftermath can create monumental ripple effects.
Listen to me… all you who remain… I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. (Isaiah 46:3-4, NLT)
Perspective shift:
What if we believed God cared for us?
As we begin to sift through the rubble of the fallout after a storm, our faith can waver, and doubt can cause us to see God as unconcerned, uninterested, or uninvolved.
Isaiah tells us that God has cared for us since we were born, and that God promises to continue to care for us.
The NIV emphasizes God’s care for us through the words upheld and sustained. “I have upheld you since your birth… I am He who will sustain you.” Holding one up and supporting are descriptions of someone who cares.
Our first perspective challenge after a storm is maintaining an accurate view of God.
God cares.
Perspective shift:
What if we believed God was carrying us?
The Amplified takes the words for care that the NLT and NIV used and emphasizes being carried.
“Listen to Me,” [says the Lord]… You who have been carried by Me from your birth And have been carried [in My arms] from the womb,
Even to your old age I am He, And even to your advanced old age I will carry you! I have made you, and I will carry you; Be assured I will carry you and I will save you. (Isaiah 46:3-4, AMP, bold added for emphasis)
God demonstrates His love for us through the act of carrying us like a mother carries her baby safely in her womb.
Often, we miss the ways we are carried, but Psalm 124 echoes the imagination of what would happen if God had not been present. “What if the LORD had not been on our side?”
What if God wasn’t carrying us?
Have we ever entertained what the storm and after-storm experience would be like if God were absent? But a better question would be to look for God. How has God been showing up, and we didn’t even notice because our entire focus was on the storm’s effects?
A beautiful, intentional perspective shift is to look for where God was at work and is currently showing up.
God carries us.
Carried can feel like a relief. Carried can also feel like an intrusion of our independence. Carried, though, is what we are. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4, ESV).
What if our recovery after the storm included a concerned, interested, and involved God? What if we stopped to catch our breath and found rest in Him? What if we realized we didn’t have to do it alone, but we have a God who cares and who has been carrying us all the time?
I pray before the storm, in the storm, and after the storm, you allow the perspective that God cares deeply for you to penetrate your soul. That you see your life through the vantage point of God carrying you. May you sense God’s presence and your eyes be opened to all the ways He has been carrying you. So be it, in Jesus’ name.
Meditate: God cares for me. OR God is carrying me.
Reflect: What are the ways God carries you? Ask God to open your eyes to all the ways He has carried you in past or current storms. When you feel like God is distant, how can you bring your perspective to the truth that He cares and is carrying you?
Deeper: (As you read through these additional verses, ask the Spirit to give you wisdom, and teach you more about how He cares for you and carries you.). Isaiah 46: 3-10; Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 124; Matthew 11: 28-30
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(Bible References: NLT – New Living Translation, NIV – New International Version, AMP – Amplified Version)
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