Sometimes He Calms the Storm, Other Times He Calms His Child

“We pray for blessings, we pray for peace, comfort for family, protection while we sleep.”  It’s 1:30 a.m. and fragments of song lyrics swirl through my mind as tropical storm Isaac pounds the island of Hispaniola. With Jason and the boy scout group weathering the storm in Jacmel, it’s just me and the two boys home tonight.  I turn to watch the peacefully sleeping Jayden beside me as our tin roof creaks and groans in protest above us. The wind howls and waves of rain sweep the city but nothing disturbs his serene sleep. 

“I will both lay me down in peace and sleep: for thou LORD only makest me dwell in safety.” I softly repeat the words of Psalm 4 as large branches of overhanging trees wildly slap our roof. The truth of the words calms my anxious heart as song fragments continue to play.

“We pray for healing, for prosperity, we pray for His mighty hand to ease our suffering. And all the while, He hears each spoken need. Yet loves us way to much to give us lesser things. Because what if His blessings come through raindrops, what if His healing comes through tears, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know He’s near, what if trials of this life are His mercies in disguise?”

My thoughts travel back in time to the Woman’s Bible Study I attended earlier this morning where this exact subject had come up. We unanimously agreed that Haiti is a challenging place to live. Day to day life in every aspect is just more difficult, trials are around every corner and the needs of the people are simply overwhelming. Security remains a concern, and now with hurricane season upon us the unsettling feelings of uncertainty refuse to fade. But through it all, we’ve grown closer to God. Trials create dependency, comforts rarely do. 

The song words, “What if my greatest disappointments, or the aching of this life, is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy. What if the trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are His mercies in disguise?” are true. It's in the trials that He gently draws us closer.

Feeling His comforting presence, and trusting in His mercy and love, the noise of the storm fades to the background and I slowly, peacefully drift back to sleep.