Stable In The Storm
10/04/2007
You can tell the substance of a person's character by how they respond to trials. My grandma, who is now with Christ in heaven, was a prime example of this. For sixteen years she endured terrible joint pain as a result of rheumatoid arthritis. Yet I never once heard her complain against God, or grumble under her affliction. She was always cheerful, always ready to sing a song, always ready to bless those around her. How did she maintain such joy in the midst of such pain? She began each morning in the same way: with a banana milkshake and the word of God. She rose at 6 AM to listen to the preached word of God, to read the word of God, and to listen to worship songs. My grandma was stable through the storms of life because she delighted in the Bible.
Psalm 1:1-4 says:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.Notice the contrast in these verses. The righteous man is stable, like a tree planted by streams of water. The wicked on the other hand, are blown away by the storms of life, like chaff in the wind. The secret to spiritual stability is regular meditation on God's word.
Those who aren't rooted in the word of God are blown away by the trials of life. When a trial comes, they lose their peace, their marriage suffers, joy is nonexistent, and life itself becomes drudgery. On the other hand, those who have sunk their roots deep into the word of God flourish in the midst of trials. The word of God allows us to stand in the eye of the storm, to be at peace when life is dissolving around us.
I want spiritual stability. I know without a doubt that I'll suffer in this life, and I want to be prepared for that suffering. I want peace in the midst of suffering, to be able to rest in the midst of the storm. I don't want to be blown about by the trials that come my way. So I must meditate on the word of God. Every time I crack open my Bible, I am sinking my roots just a bit deeper into the soil of God's word. I am readying myself for the storm.
Do you want to flourish in the midst of suffering? Then sink your roots deep into God's word.
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