The Storm is Past!

Eph 2:1
And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Eph 2:2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Eph 2:3
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Eph 2:4
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Eph 2:5
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Eph 2:6
And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

Last night, once again storms swept through the Middle Tennessee area. It has become so common to have, not just storms, but violent storms and tornadoes, that whenever Ihear that storms are approaching, I sit up late and see what the intensity is and wait until they have past before going to bed. Then after the storm, there is a calmness and cleanness to the air, and it is much more peaceful to go to sleep.

I've noticed that during storms, my 11 month old (Aaron) usually sleeps right through them - thunder, lightning, wind and all. My 4 year old (Andrew), on the other hand, usually wakes up and wants to come in the room with me and Jenny. If we're laying down, he'll crawl up in between us and then goes on to sleep.

Isn't that like our lives? When we first get saved, we're babes in Christ. We can sleep through anything, because we still have that childlike faith. Then as we get a little older and life becomes more uncertain, we need more assurance. Hopefully, we mature then to where they don't unnerve us as bad. In the same way, the storms in life drive us to get closer to our Heavenly Father. God wants to use these storms to mature us, so we get less afraid each time. We can sleep if we realize that the Father is staying up!

Then after the storm passes, we find the air around us a little bit fresher, cleaner and a calmness comes to our soul. God wants us to get back to that childlike faith we had when we first got saved. He wants us to realize that He's in control no matter. So, just rest in who you are in Him. He wants us to be able to rest, even in the midst of the storm.

The last couple of blogposts, we've been looking at truths from the book of Ephesians. And that is exactly what Paul was saying to the church at Ephesus. They were born in the storm. They had the false cult of Dianna persecuting them. They had been called out of a pagan and polytheistic culture to serve the true and living God. And Paul wanted them to realize that in Christ we can rest. In fact, we have to learn to sit down and rest before we can walk and stand. Watchman Nee wrote a book about this entitled: Sit, Walk, Stand. We have to sit up and realize we're seated in Heavenly places. Then and only then can we walk and certainly stand our ground against the principalities of Hell.

BUT TAKE HEART!!! Christ went through the storm for us on Calvary! We were in the storm of sin and iniquity but Christ called us out. He picked us up! And now, he has caused us to sit down in Heavenly places! Some are never able to effectively stand their ground, because they have not first realized that Christ wants them to sit down. REST IN WHO YOU ARE IN HIM! Then go out and live for him and fight the good fight of faith. Too often in the church, someone will get saved and in order to harness their energy, we immediately throw them out there to teach a class or something. THE THING THEY NEED MOST IS JUST TO SIT AND REST IN THEIR NEW REALIZATION OF CHRIST! They need to be seated first, then they can be strengthened to walk and stand.

If you're weary, just sit down! It's ok (in this sense) to sit down on God! It's ok to take time and rest at Jesus' feet. For you child of God, THE STORM IS OVER! Just rest in HIm today! Let Him fight your battles for you! STAND STILL AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD!