Sheltered in the storm

Lately, our weather has been all over the place. One moment it is freezing, the next raining, and then sunny. I try as much as possible to be prepared for these changes, especially taking care of three boys. I keep a blanket in my car, extra hats for those days they boys claim they didn’t know they needed hats, plus an umbrella in my purse and one in the backseat. Recently during one of the rainy days, my favorite umbrella broke.

There I stand, rain pouring onto my clothes, my hair and all the other items I intended to stay dry. Immediately I begin to pick up my pace trying to run and seek shelter. Sometimes that effort to move faster has ended up with me somehow slipping (I’m not the only one, right?) Then instead of being out of the rain, I am trying to pick myself up, fussing to keep the boys together, and getting wetter in the process.

That made me start thinking.

Umbrellas are interesting inventions. We use them to shelter out heat on a hot summer’s day or to protect us from an onslaught of rain. But then there are those days, the rain seems never-ending, and the wind begins to pick up. Then, without warning, that umbrella meant to protect and keep us dry has now flipped and is broken. We stand without any shelter.

It’s moments like these when I am completely frustrated about something temporary, the Holy Spirit speaks right to my heart. Unlike the umbrella that can break with a strong storm, Christ is the greatest shelter there could ever be.

In His shelter, we can find rest when we are weary (Matt. 11:28). We can find healing when we are hurt (Psalm 147:3). We can find hope when all seems hopeless (Isaiah 40:31). When we are in the shelter of Christ, although the storms may come, we will not be shaken or moved. The rain could come, the winds of life might blow, we may even stumble, but in the shelter of the Lord there is peace, joy, hope and eternal life. Oh, how wonderful indeed!