Storms

While travelling recently, someone showed us a place where a storm had struck, destroying everything in its path. They shared how life has now returned to normal.  

 

In recent months, we’ve heard of many tornadoes wreaking havoc across nations, displacing millions and challenging lives. A few weeks later, life begins limping back to semi-normal again. Yet, for those who have endured such devastation, life will likely never feel fully normal. The pain, grief, and loss linger, reshaping their world.  

Still, the grass grows back. Buildings are rebuilt. People return, and life starts anew. For a season, the scars of destruction remain visible. Isn’t this true of our lives as well? 

Tornadoes—unexpected crises—strike us, leaving destruction and chaos in their wake. Over time, life slowly regains a semblance of normalcy, but we realize it’s okay to live with things not being entirely okay.  

 

A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground. Similarly, life’s tornadoes can create whirlpools of despondency—a sense of being trapped and overwhelmed.  

A whirlpool is a stationary phenomenon, often formed when water drains from a bathtub or behind a dam. The danger of a whirlpool of despondency is that you cannot escape it on your own. You need a strong pair of hands to pull you out, especially when carrying the burdens of life’s storms on your back. This reminds me of *Pilgrim’s Progress*, where Christian and Pliable fall into the miry bog called the *Slough of Despond*. 

But then I am reminded of a story from the Good Book:  

 

A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, ‘Teacher, does it mean nothing to you that we’re going down?’ Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Settle down!’ The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: ‘Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?’”

 

This story reassures us that healing can come even after the tornadoes of life. When we’re caught in whirlpools of despair, we need help to find our way out. And there is One who can speak directly to our storms, saying, “Quiet! Settle down!”  

 

Life may not return to its former state, but it can become whole again in a new way.