Loud scary storms and the character of God

This past week we had a particular loud storm. It was in the morning, my kids had just finished breakfast and I managed to convince them to get out of their pj's and into clothes for the day. The sky turned really dark and the wind began to pick up. As the rain came down hard and thunder began to roll my kids got scared. At one point, I was folding laundry while the kids played on the floor and thunder roared so loud I jumped off the couch which did not help the kids calm down at all.

As I walked into the kitchen to see what things looked like out front, I became aware of the thoughts circling through my head: "I wonder if a tree is going to fall?", "I wonder if it will fall on the car?" I love my car, what would I do stuck at home with out a car?" Does our insurance cover tree-storm damage?" "How long would it even take to file... would we get a renter?"... and the sorry list went on for another minute until I finally caught myself in the act of mistrust.

I repented quickly and went into the living room to talk with my kids. They were still very afraid and both wanted me to hold them. I looked them in the eye and asked them to tell me what they knew about God. Is God good or bad? They answered that He is good. So I asked them if we could trust God, to which they said, Yes! So I reminded myself as I told them that I agreed, God is good and we can trust Him always, no matter what. So no matter what happens during the storm, God is always good and we can always trust him. It doesn't matter how loud the thunder is or if a tree falls on my car God is good and we can trust Him.

You see, I want my kids to know, deep down, that the character of God is NOT dependent upon circumstances. God is good whether the tree falls or stands it ground. We can trust God whether we are safe or injured. God is not defined by our experience in a fallen world.

I hope they got it, I hope I got it. I think they got a piece of it at the least, because after our little chat they decided to sit on the couch, snuggle under a blanket, and read to each other. There was no more screaming, crying or begging to be held immediately. They just patiently waited for the storm to pass.

So often in our life it is easy to define God based on our human experience but that is a backwards way of looking at it. You can't start with people or creation and define God you must always start with God. Then you can clearly interpret people and the creation.

So I remind myself regulary: God is ALWAYS good and We can ALWAYS trust Him!