The Storm Is Coming

James 3:16 (NIV)

  For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

 I can remember vacationing at the lake as a young girl when all of a sudden the temperature would begin to fall and the wind would begin to move.  My dad knew instinctively, without the help of the Weather Channel, that a storm was approaching.  He would jump into action giving us all orders as to how we needed to secure the campsite while he secured our family's boat in the water's edge.  During those days we camped in tents and would all pile into our family's van seeking refuge from what could sometimes be very violent North Carolina summer thunder storms.  

Life is no different.  We can be enjoying our life when all of a sudden we begin to feel the temperature of a room or people change.  We begin to see a shift in a situation very similar to the shift in the wind before the onset of a storm.  Those who are close to the moving and guiding of the Holy Spirit will sense these things even stronger through discernment before any true signs of the storm actually appear.  When this happens it is our duty to begin praying like never before.  This is the time when prayer warriors should drop to their knees and cry out to the Lord for protection and defense from the enemy.  The storms of life are brutal and can leave us beaten and bruised.  They are real and they don't exclude anyone. 

God actually tells us very clearly that we will have trials in this world but to be of good cheer for He has overcome it all!  So, will storms come?  YES, they will!  But, what a hope and comfort we have in that God sends us warning signs before the storm hits so that we can prepare our hearts through prayer, fasting, and time in His Word.  I believe He does this so that we, too, can get our camp secure and braced before the storm arrives.