Snowstorms are great…when you can stay home, snuggled beneath blankets on the couch, holding a warm mug of hot chocolate, protected from the elements in the warmth of your home, watching thick snowflakes whiz by.
Then there’s the times you can’t, like when you’re driving home from work. These moments you buckle up for an adventure.
The wind howls around your vehicle, there’s a white blur across your windshield, and visibility becomes the main concern. As always, the goal is to keep in your lane and avoid the ditches on either side, but the picture of white in front of you, hiding the highway lines, makes it challenging. On repeat, like the little steam engine that could, you pray, “please let me be on the road.”
Just as the changes in weather marr our view of the road, circumstances in our life can wreak havoc on the clarity we have in life. We feel confused, struggling to see what God is doing in and around us as chaos howls like a stormy wind around us.
Where do we look to navigate our path through the storm?
The believer measures all against the foundational truths of scripture. Though our emotions surge and social media reaches out to take hold, wisdom calls out, imploring us to look first toward the Lord.
In God’s good pleasure, he chose to reveal himself to us through his Word. Just as the reflective highway markings keep us in our lane, scripture speaks to us cleary directing us to a foundation on the rock instead of shifting sand.
God’s Word is clear and understandable to answer our questions, keeping us tethered to him as we travel the journey our life takes us on. Though we may not see the markings distinctly when there’s a blizzard, it means we respond by slowing down to purposefully seek the answers.
Scripture cleary tells us God is the author of creation, how the problem of sin entered the world and how God revealed a plan for our rescue. Through the Word we understand how Jesus’ life, death and resurrection atones for our sin. John reminds us “ these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
Not only can we know and understand how we’ve been rescued, we also discover how we can live the best possible life now until he will finally restore all things and establish his kingdom for eternity.
The gospel orientates us when our path feels obscured by circumstances or we’re fatigued with suffering; it’s a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. We need this even more when storms of life challenge our ability to see clearly.
By the help of the Holy Spirit, our purposeful searching and growing, and a willingness to obey, the scriptures act as our guide and our boundaries, to keep us on a path that glorifies him.
How has the clarity of scripture helped you navigate stormy seasons?