Isaiah 25:4 You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.
As I lay listening to the remnants of the overnight wave of thunderstorms pass by, I wondered how many branches might have fallen from my big tree in the front yard.
Looking at the picture, you can surmise that the tree has been through a lot in recent years. Between a couple of winter storms and a strong wind event last spring that blew large branches all the way over our roof, the tree has been reshaped. And perhaps not for the best. The tree is quite lopsided, with most of its street-facing side stripped away.
Yet when I study the tree, I realize the many signs of new growth. The vibrant lower branches on the front side did not exist a year ago. On the side away from your photo view, what looked like dead branches have new limbs jutting out of them. The tree's roots and foundation remain strong, so somehow, the tree copes with the damage and rejuvenates.
Storms aren't all bad. We look for shelter from the storm, but God with wisdom created a world where storms occur, where reshaping happens, where nutrients are replenished, where something new emerges from something decaying. God is making all things new; a storm is one tool.
The storms in our lives are similar. We may not like how things look immediately after reshaping, but most of us can point to a "life storm" that changed us for the better in some way.
Yes, we still seek shelter from the storm, but let us also embrace the change that comes from storms. God is making all things new. God is making each of us new as well, even if the result looks lopsided at times.
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