I am outside on my drive way, on one knee, reaching out an tying up my shoes getting ready for my daily run. As I am stretching out I look up to the sky, and clouds of rain are moving in from the south and I know that a storm is forming. Quickly my mind starts telling me not to run in to the storm. My mind throws at me a barrage of excuses design to keep me from running. Somehow, my will is stronger, and I start running towards the storm.
As I begin my run my mind is urging me to go back, not to keep going, but I ignore it, and keep advancing, the skies ahead look darker still. The wind now has picked up speed and strength, the leaves laying on the street start to lift up as the wind carries them away. Little droplets of water start to fall on me, as I keep running towards the storm ahead. My mind pleads with me to stop and run back, persuading me to run some other time, to avoid the storm, but a voice inside me, defiant, screams with all its might, to keep running.
What does that storm holds in store for me? How bad will it get? There is loud thunders all around me now, the sky has turn pitch black and every sense in my mind is warning me to turn back, but for some reason my pace increases, and now I am running even faster towards the storm. The rain is pouring down now, thunders everywhere, and the wind is blowing even stronger and I am expecting the worst, I am right in the middle of the storm.
Normally at this point of my normal run I wold be feeling a little fatigued and my legs would be cramping up, but not today, surprisingly I feel stronger, and the worst the storm gets, the stronger I run and the faster my pace becomes. The street is flooded now, every step I take becomes harder, I am soaked, my hair is completely wet, and, I run even faster. People drive by in their cars looking at me with amazement, Im sure their thinking that Im mad, and I must be, because I keep Running towards the storm.
Its the last stretch to get back to my house and now. Im running as fast as I can, ahead I can see where the storm ends and the sunshine breaks thru the clouds, a few seconds now and all will be over. Apparently out of breath and strength, I find the last bit of energy in me and I run the last sprint. Is finally over, I felt like I had defeated my will, and the storm. Somehow I am a stronger man after it.
Later on, relaxing in my hot tub, I spent some time reflecting on the experience of the day and thought, "isn't this just like life". Life Is full of storms, and like running, life is both a delightful and stressful activity that requires increasingly and constant effort. Nobody said it would be easy right?
We are, most of the time, scared of the storms of our lives, things that have been forced upon us. Nobody choses their storms, they just happen, as a way for us to learn and grow, but they can be very painful. Some of us are greatly tempted to run away from our storms, to procrastinate facing them. We are afraid of the outcome, and spend must of our lives running away from our storms.
Until one day we decide we wont run away from our storms anymore, but we will run towards them, come what may, no matter the outcome, we will face that which we fear the most. As we run towards it, there are a thousand different reasons, thrown to us by our own fears and insecurities, which disguise themselves as reason, they seem to make sense and even sound like wisdom, but to turn back, will just force us to run in circles, never getting ahead, never conquering our storms.
It's only when you decide to run towards your storm and face it, that you will find the inner strength, that inexplicable power that keeps you moving with determination and defiance, that overcomes your fear and your exhaustion. That strength and that power comes from God, with out it, you could never conquer. As the storm worsens and seems to be unbearable, His strength will comfort you and empower you to stay the course and not only face your storm, but conquer it. And at the end when your thru, His light, shining thru the clouds of doubt left by the storm, will enlighten you, and you will realize that you are stronger, because of the storm, and no matter what weather is ahead in your life, you know that you have the strength to conquer it and that you wont face it alone.
So don't worry about and fear the storms of your life, quit running way from them, turn around and face them, find strength in God and run towards them in defiance, because you will succeed, and thru Him, you will conquer your storms.
