Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.... He stilled the storm to a whisper, the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. —Psalms 28-31 (NIV)
Two nights last week here in Dallas, we had storms the likes that we haven’t seen nor heard in quite a while. And more are coming. Lightning, thunder, and torrential rain. What stormy weather! Mojo, our rescue dog, does not like stormy weather. In fact, he gets really undone when the lightning strikes and thunder rolls. So last week, around 2 a.m., here he comes, into our bedroom, pawing at my side of the bed, wanting to be calmed down, reassured, protected from what he didn’t understand. Normally he sleeps on the floor somewhere in the house. But on nights like this, he doesn’t know what to do. We do our best to get him up in the bed to calm him down and reassure him that all is well. When the storms of life come roaring through, we, just like Mojo, sometimes don’t understand. We become undone, searching for assurance and need to be calmed down. Jesus is just where we need to turn. He is ready and waiting to protect us from the storms of life, comforting us, sheltering us, giving us assurance that these storms will end. And just like Mojo who realizes that he will be okay, we, too, will remember and know that it is Jesus Christ, our Savior, who will make things okay, covering us over with his mercy and grace.