October 1, 2026
I don't know about you, but I am not a big fan of storms.
I do not like to drive in the pouring rain, nor do I even like to get out of my house when it is storming. I think the storms I dislike most are the ones that show up in the middle of the night - uninvited, unexpected, and unplanned.
It seems as though we have had a good many of those storms here lately. You know the ones that show up at 3:00 am when everyone is asleep. We had one of those one night last week. As I lay there seeing the lightning through the window, hearing the rain beating on the side of my house, and the howl of the wind and roar of the thunder, I couldn't help but think about the storms we might face in our personal lives.
I have learned that in this life you WILL face trials, tests, and there will be storms. The storms in my life are never invited - they just show up. I'm not sure any of us would choose to welcome a storm. If I could put a sign on my door that said "All storms physical, personal, or mentally taxing, are uninvited," I definitely would.
We don't choose storms - they just happen. When an uninvited storm appears, our only defense is to invite the One who can calm the storm in our situation. God is always with us, we just have to make sure we are with HIM. Psalms 145:18 says, "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth." An uninvited storm might make you feel unstable, but God is constant and steadfast. He can calm your heart in the midst of your stormy circumstances.
I also highly dislike the unexpected and unplanned storms that come into my life. We all have those storms that come up without any warning. Whether it's a financial problem, a child's issue, a sickness, or anything that we consider a storm, we might not be warned before they hit. There are no alerts - they just arrive, cause damage, and we are left without a plan. Sometimes it's bills that you were not expecting and can't pay, a sickness that may or may not have a cure, or sometimes it's a relationship that has crumbled and doesn't seem like it can be repaired. Unexpected storms can leave battle scars and wounds and often a mess to figure out and clean up.
When you are in an unexpected storm you can feel like your life is being blown in every direction (like the wind), battered from all sides (like the rain), and honestly sometimes soaked with the tears you have shed. Unplanned storms can leave you dealing with surprises and situations you didn't want to face. But do we have to face unexpected or unplanned storms alone? Definitely not!
We serve a God who can come alongside each of us to pick us up, dry us off, and walk alongside us through every unexpected storm and unplanned situation we might go through. We are never alone, and the storm is never unexpected to God. He always has a plan.
Unexpected storms seem to shake us the most because they can interrupt everything we thought was stable. We need to have peace to survive the unexpected. We don't need to have peace to understand the storm; we need to have the peace that comes from trusting the ONE who is greater than the storm. We have to give the unexpected, unplanned storm to the One who can show us the plan and give us peace to survive the storm.
As I was thinking about this, I was reminded that there is always beauty after the storm. It could be a glorious rainbow, a clear blue sky, or just a wonderfully warm sunny day. I have to wonder if maybe, just maybe, the storms have a lesson. What if the uninvited, unexpected, unplanned storms are where God does some needed work in our lives to strengthen our faith and draw us closer to Him? What if our testimony isn't built in comfort and sunshine but revealed and refined in the storm? I have to say, if that's the case, then let's not let the storms shake our faith or break us, but allow them to build something in our lives that God can use as part of our story.
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Jill Johnson finds spiritual applications in her everyday experiences as a wife, mother, grandmother, and Georgian. Jill is retired from the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and is available to speak to your church's women's gatherings. Reach her at jjohnson@gabaptist.org.
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