What was the temperature in your house this morning when you woke up?  It was 62 degrees here.  In case you’re wondering, that’s cold.  Once I was out from under the covers, I realized how cold.  It’s perfect sleeping weather, though.  It was 80 degrees just three days ago. Crazy!  Hurricane Sandy is wreaking havoc on the weather up and down the east coast.  Thankfully, we will only experience wind and cooler temperatures, but our friends north of us could get hit pretty hard.
The news media is calling this storm the one in one hundred for New York.  Have you taken a hit like that?  You feel like it’s the big one.  It could be financial hardship, hearing a doctor say the “c” word with regard to you or someone you love, or the loss of a loved one. If you live long enough, you could come close to experiencing all three and then some.  Life if filled with hardships along the way.  Jesus promised we’d have difficult times [John 16:33]. Part of the Christian life is suffering [Romans 5:1-5].  But those who aren’t Christ followers suffer also.  We simply suffer with a promise of Jesus bringing restoration to our lives [1 Peter 5:10].
We have the opportunity to focus our attention on our suffering or focus our attention on our God and the gift of knowing Him.  In Matthew 14:25-33 Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and he wanted to join Him.  Peter knew he couldn’t walk on the water in his own strength, but this was his opportunity to do it in the strength Jesus would provide him [vs. 28].  As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he was water walking [vs. 29].  When he shifted his eyes to the wind and waves, he started to sink [vs. 30].  We do the same thing. We focus more on our circumstance than our God and then wonder why we’re a train wreck.  God isn’t confined by our circumstances.  He put the stars in place and called them by name [Genesis 1:16, Psalm 147:4].  He can move them around if He chose to do it.  He speaks and things happen [Genesis 1:1-31]. Our problems are so minor to Him and He’s willing to step into them, if we will trust Him with them [Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7].
Are you facing a storm right now? You don’t have to do it alone.  Jesus is an expert when it comes to dealing with storms [Mark 4:36-41]. What is keeping you from trusting Him with yours?  He’s ready, able and willing. Allow Him to gently shift your focus to Him.