The Storms of Life – Greg Albrecht
In 2002, BBC and HBO collaborated on a biographical film about Winston Churchill, focusing on the years just prior to World War 2. They borrowed their title from the first volume of Churchill’s six-volume history of World War 2, aptly titled by Sir Winston himself, The Gathering Storm.
Life is filled with sunny days and not-so-sunny ones. We all experience the storms of life. One day we may enjoy the warmth of the sun on our face, and then the next day a dark fog accompanied by a driving rain is pouring down in torrents on us. Few times, (if any, in most of our lifetimes) compare with the exhausting, unrelenting intensity of the storms we have experienced these past few years.
In 2012, a Texas band called “Uncle Lucius” recorded Keep the Wolves Away. Its lyrics soulfully lamenting life as a wilderness journey in which the daily grind of sickness, pain, bill collectors, hunger, hatred and abuse are metaphorical wolves, who as predators are always howling at us, circling around us and waiting to have their way with us.
Many today feel under siege, perplexed, out of sorts, frustrated, worried and even depressed. The catastrophic nature of a world seemingly gone berserk, untethered by spiritual foundations and moorings, is deeply unsettling. Many feel as if they are adrift in a small boat about to be capsized. Combining keeping wolves away with the word picture of spiritual storms, others perceive themselves as clinging to a piece of driftwood – desperately trying to survive as they scan the horizon for signs of yet another gathering storm.
Some forecasters, be they political, financial or religious have appropriated the menacing specter of a gathering storm to ominously depict a horrendous calamity just around the corner. Sadly, many are motivated to stir the pot and to increase anxiety to a fever pitch because it serves their purposes. The pot is being stirred and it is boiling! As never before, as I keep my ears open to the ground as it were, people seem uncertain and insecure – oft-asked questions include: What is going on? What will happen next? How bad will things get? Will we ever get back to “normal”?
Here are five points you might find helpful as you navigate your own uncertain waters, as you look toward the signs of a gathering storm and as you encounter howling and circling wolves.
1) I do not believe in hiding one’s head in the sand. I believe it is part of our calling to “walk circumspectly” as the Authorized King James translates Paul in Ephesians 5:15. It is beneficial to look around us and realize what is happening and the sad shape of this world. Jesus advised looking to the spiritual sky for signs of tomorrow’s challenges (Matthew 16:2-3). However, as Christ-followers discerning “the signs of the times” (verse 3) we must be aware of the bias and the intent of those who provide “news.”
What do we as Christ-followers make of the daily tragedies, traumas, immoral behaviors, and the generic, recurring evils of lust, greed, hatred? Is what we are seeing and living within a unique low point in human history, portending an ever-worsening toboggan slide into oblivion for the world at large and our western world of North America specifically?
2) When we as Christ-followers consider the dark reality of our world, how do we respond? My sense is that some who consider themselves as authorities (and many believe and follow them!), these authorities, in all aspects and parts of our society (including media, education, government, politics and religion), whether they do so with malice aforethought, are stirring the pot so that people are agitated and living in fear because it serves their own purpose to have people living in a state of anxiety. Whether they are stirring the pot out of malice aforethought or not is not the issue – I am merely saying that fear and agitation controls people. Sensationalism rules the roost. Like Chicken Little, the news media and its abbreviated cycles regularly tell us, “the sky is falling.”
3) As Christ-followers, we balance such an emphasis with our faith, knowing the gospel of Jesus Christ is not about fear, but about love. The gospel does not inspire us to live in a cave, or behind closed doors in fear as did the disciples immediately after Jesus’ crucifixion. The gospel does not agitate us, but it leads us to peace… Jesus comforts us. The kingdom of God is indeed all about peace and faith and good will and trust, so that even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord our Shepherd is with us. He calms the storms and he keeps the wolves at bay.
4) So, with respect to those who are beating the drums right now about gathering storms, history tells us that storms have always gathered, some of them unleashing appalling suffering. Storms of all kinds will continue to be part of our lives until Jesus returns. There are now, will be and always have been many wolves who are howling and slowly circling our camps and homes.
May we not focus on the storm or the wolves, but on Jesus. May we not focus on fear, but on Jesus. May we not focus on the shadows of death, but upon the Lord our Shepherd. As he did with the disciples, during the storm on Lake Galilee, Jesus can still the storm. He still “stills” storms!
Instead of concentrating on gathering storms around us, real or imagined, or those seemingly headed our direction, why not place the spotlight on the victorious resurrection of our Lord and his Second Coming? Instead of gathering storms, focus on the Light of Christ – the Risen and Second Coming Son!
5) Whether the wolves are howling and circling, whether you see signs of a gathering storm or whether you are right now in the middle of a storm, the warmth and light of Jesus is our best friend! Gather around the light of Jesus. Huddle around the warmth of his comfort. Light a candle, or rather, gather around the candle of the Light of Jesus, rather than cursing the darkness!
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Plain Truth Ministries | Box 300 | Pasadena, CA 91129-0300
