Kathryn

Storms in our Lives I graduated the first two phases of Mary’s Song December 09, 2013, and I am currently in the third phase of the program. When I got to Mary’s Song August 21, 2012 I was very angry at God for all of the things that I had been through in my life. I was extremely tormented, scared, and felt alone. Through the first two phases of Mary’s Song I was able to build a relationship of trust with my leaders and learned to allow others to minister the love of Christ to me. Through this process God has been able to heal some of the deepest scars in my heart and deliver me from torments that I thought I was forever bound by. I recently watched a documentary about the Wonders of God, and there was a part about thunderstorms that really stuck out to me. What was said in the documentary was that when there is a thunderstorm, the lightning in the storm sends off a gas called nitrogen that actually fertilizes the plants and helps them to grow. I had no idea that God was going to use this documentary to speak to me but He did. He began to use this illustration to show me how without the storms in my life there wouldn’t be growth. He showed me that without thunderstorm plants would not be able to reach their maximum potential as a plant, and without the storms in my life I would be unable to reach my maximum potential in Him. He showed me that those bad things in my past that I went through created a need for redemption in my life to where I was able to even realize my need for Him. So, I can now thank God for both the negative and the good things that happened and are happening in my life, because I now can see how it draws me to Him. Through this Christ is helping me to embrace the storms in my life and to recognize them as the grace of God; His grace to change me and produce the character of Christ in me. Both past and present. He revealed to me that without the storms in life the seed of the Word cannot grow in us, meaning there would be no change or growth in our lives, and we would become dry and wither as Christians. The word of God says that God sends the rain on both the wicked and the godly, and it’s not because He is unfair, mean, or He wants to torture us. It’s all because of His great love. God sends the rain on the wicked to create that need for Him, because He wishes that none would perish, and God sends the rain on the godly to produce Himself within; to mature that which He has already brought to life. The LORD is helping me to see that when storms come and fear tries to arise, Christ is right there in the midst of the storm bidding me to walk on the water with Him (Matt. 14:22-33), that it is all for the glory of God, and new life and growth will be the outcome, if I but trust and abide (Jn. 15). God opened my eyes to see a glimpse of His love for me, and how intimately He loves and cares for me through this, that even when the winds are whipping all around me and I feel like I am about to sink and I can’t see Him clearly, I am able to step back look around and recognize He is for me (Psa. 56:9), He is with me (Heb. 13:5), He loves me, and this too shall pass.