Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in time of trouble. Hebrews. 4:16. Let us come boldly before
the throne ...and find grace to help in time of need.
It is a very stormy day. The sky is dark and the rain is coming down
heavily. The sound of the thunder makes me have some "thinking back"
thoughts about my early childhood.
I was visiting my grandmother in her rural country home. It was in
the days when most farm homes had no electricity or running water. No
washing machine or any of the things we take for granted today . She
cooked on a kerosene burning stove and even though the food was good
we had a lot of smoke to deal with from that stove. In fact it made the
white ceiling paper a little more gray each time she cooked. She was
very strict about how children should behave and even in fun we had to "toe
the line" or suffer the consequences. Still, I loved spending time there.
On this particular day it was really storming. It was a cyclone that
came up suddenly, with swirling winds and pouring rain. Trees were
falling , and buildings were collapsing. We were frightened. There was
no basement to go to and no radio or TV to tell us what was happening.
My grandmother knew God and she was doing some serious out loud praying
that day. It rained so hard that the gray ceiling paper began to have l
ittle bulges forming. Rain was coming through the roof making the little
bulges larger. Then they split open and suddenly, the house with no running
water had water running all over the place.
I learned something very special that day. My grandmother was upset but
through it all she never lost her cool. I remember her saying, as she looked
out the window, “there goes the tool shed”. It as a large building about like
a double garage. It had tools, an old time tractor and a corn crib which
contained the winter supply of dried corn for the chickens and the cattle.
It went down with a crash and we wondered what might be next. We didn’t know
we were supposed to go to a place of safety and stay away from windows. We
were too frightened to think about anything except staying close to grandma
and watching the storm outside. I don’t remember but probably some little girl
prayers were going up to God, too. God answered our prayers and kept us safe.
It is a blessing to be able to call upon God when the storms and difficutlies
of life surround us. Our "attitude" toward them can either make or break us.
“God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Therefore we
will not fear…though the waters roar and are troubled…“ Ps. 46:1-2. We can
accept our difficulties as from God to teach us patience, perseverance and faith.
Prayer makes keeping your cool a whole lot easier.
