Today’s guest post comes from my friend, Jessica Rawlins. We met each other while I was walking through a particularly difficult storm last fall and God used our time together (along with several other pastor’s wives) to encourage me. I hope her words bring you comfort today if you are walking through a storm of life today. ❤️

What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Psalm 56:3

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle forever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. Psalm 61:2-4

Keep me as the apple of thine eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings. Psalm 17:8

It was a normal evening at home with my littles. My hubby worked on the night shift: it was just us girls. I heard that there may be some bad weather this particular evening.

Bad weather always fascinated me, but also acted as a source of fear for me. I especially feared high winds and tornadoes. Currently, God called us into full time ministry and we now live in Kansas which is known for tornadoes. At the time of this story though, we lived in the woods of north Florida— so close to Georgia, we could almost consider ourselves as dual citizens of Florida and Georgia.

We lived in an older model single wide trailer underneath beautiful, large oak trees. They provided much shade, but were also a possible hazard in bad weather.

As I began our nightly routine of baths, bedtime snacks, and listening to all the stories my two little girls just had to tell me and answer the bazillion questions they had to know the answer to before they could sleep, I whispered prayers to the Lord for His safety over us as well as for His peace for my heart.

As we settled into my recliner with both girls on my lap and beside me, the girls before began to drift to sleep. As the night went on, there was perfect peace and calm in our home. There were no sounds of wind or storm that we could hear. As my girls rested soundly in my arms, I rested in the arms and peace of Jesus.

You might think that God kept the storm away or the meteorologist got it wrong….

As I woke the next morning, I checked my Facebook. I began to see status updates from friends in the area of how bad the wind and storm was the night before!

“How can that be?” I thought, “when I heard nothing?”

It was then that a still, small voice began to speak to my heart and I realized what my Father had done: 1. He either made our ears to not hear or 2. He put our little home and area in a bubble of protection.

Either way it spoke volumes to my heart!

Who am I that the King of glory would take the time to listen to me— especially when it was, in comparison to all the other requests He gets, such a small thing? I mean… I’m supposed to be an adult who should not let a little wind shake me up so easily, right?

That is the great thing about our heavenly Father: if it matters to us, it matters to Him.

When I became a parent, I found it made me more able to understand just a little more about His love for me. Although I love my girls, I know my love for them could never compare to the love Jesus has for me!

No matter how small or silly I think my girls’ fear or concern is, when they come to me, I always try to be patient, understanding and make them know that I hear them and will do everything in my power to protect them and ease their fears or worries.

Our heavenly Father is no different: He is only better. I have never physically felt Him wrap His arms around me or audibly heard Him speak words of comfort to me. Oh, but how many times has, as He promised, His still, small voice spoken through verses from His Word His promises I can rely on! The peace He provides my heart sometimes feel as if He is holding me safe and secure in His ever-loving and unbreakable arms.

My mind goes to another time when I did not even know there was any danger: we had built a little one room school house for me to homeschool my girls in. We were working away and knew of no danger.

Later in the day once we returned to the house, where we had better service on my phone, I received all kinds of messages from people checking on us because apparently, we had been under a tornado WARNING!!!

In this instance, I had not even prayed about this situation. My Heavenly Father knew me better than anyone else and He once again protected us from danger, but also He protected me from feeling fear!

There is no doubt my Father has protected me from unknown fears and dangers many times in my life! There has very likely been danger that I was never even aware of, yet God protected me from even knowing about that danger. Again, thinking back to those of us who are parents, how many times do we do the same for our children? God is all knowing and HE never “slumbers nor sleeps” as we read in Psalm 121:1.

As we think about our daily lives, many times we see the storm clouds rolling in, we se the lightning is flashing and we hear the thunder banging louder every day. Our hearts and minds are full of worries and fears.

Sometimes the fear is louder than the storm itself.

Hopefully we react to these times by going to our Lord in prayer, “casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” as we are instructed in I Peter 5:7. Sadly, many times we forfeit this (at least at first).

We try to handle things on our own, or like me, we go into fix-it mode! We see a problem and want to hit it straight on: in the words of Barney Fife, we want to “Nip it in the bud.”

Our attempts to fix the problems we face on our own usually causes us more anxiety. If only we could learn to follow one of our text verses and remember, “What time I am afraid I will trust in thee!”

Trusting in God does not mean that I take charge and then hope it’s okay with go to God afterward and ask Him to fix the mess we created. Trusting Him means going straight to Him first and asking Him for help with whatever the situation is and to give us peace and strength to rest in His loving arms.

In cases where the storm is caused by other people (when someone may have “done you wrong”), it is important to remember the verse that tells us to Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 and also Vengeance is mine; I will repay saith, the Lord. Romans 12:19

Believe me: I know how it feels to want to right the wrong and even defend yourself. When we do this though, we are throwing ourselves right in the middle of the raging, monstrous storm. Thankfully, we know the Master of the wind, the Storm Maker and Calmer, Jesus Christ!

We can take all of our fear, anxiety, hurt, and anger to Him and know He will work all thing for our good and His glory (see Romans 8:28).

… did you stumble on the words Storm Maker? YES! Jesus sometimes creates the storms in our lives to show us Himself. He often uses these times to make us more like Him and help us grow and be a more useable vessel for His honor and glory.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:18

About our author: My name is Jessica Rawlins. I serve with my husband and our two daughters at Ray Avenue Baptist Church in Salina, Ks, where my husband is assistant pastor. We have served in ministry together for the last 24 years. In addition to serving at church and in my home, I teach private piano lessons, work as a Para Educator at a local middle school, and am in the process of having my first children’s book and devotional book published.