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For Barbara Wilkins a simple ride home turned into a moment she will not soon forget. It started with her husband calling her suggesting she come home early, it ended in the midst of a storm.

As she drove the storm picked up and as she described it hail began to fall that sounded like her car was being beat on with a baseball bat. With her husband encouraging her on the phone to attempt to outrun the storm she made the decision to find refuge in a nearby gas station.

Right thinking; wrong place. She drove past a Phillips 66 for some reason and pulled into a Love’s gas station. Soon she found herself holding onto the metal railing on the wall of the bathroom. When that wall began to shake and appeared to be coming down she then reached over and grabbed the sturdiest thing she could find the toilet and hung on while a tornado ripped the building to shreds.

Fortunately she walked away from the event but she was mentally shaken and physically sore. I asked what had made her sore thinking something might have hit her and she corrected me with this statement ‘she was sore from holding on for dear life.’ Storms in life have a way of making you feel that way.

All of us at one time or another will find ourselves holding on for dear life in the midst of a storm that is tearing into the walls we have placed in our life for security. For some it is the wall of marriage that comes tumbling down, for others the security of a job is ripped out beneath us, often our health or the health of those we love rocks our world, no matter when the storm comes all we can do is hold on for dear life. Let us use Barbara’s experience to point us to God for some tips on how to handle the stormy days of life.

· Listen to the Godly advice of others. Had Barbara left a bit earlier as her husband suggested she might have missed the storm. We need to listen to Godly words when offered; often they help us avoid great tragedy in our life.

· Be careful where you find refuge. For Barbara it was Phillips 66 or Loves, it was a guess. For us we have more clear choices; it is God or the world. Many choose the short term escape of recreational drugs or destructive habits instead of the more solid never wavering hand of a loving God. Think of the worlds escapes as Love’s and think of God as the Phillips 66. (By the way it still stands today, while the Love’s not so much.)

· You can’t outrun a storm. Storms are bigger than us, faster than us and very unpredictable. Don’t take chances deal with it as soon as you can by finding the proper place of refuge. Don’t get caught running unprotected from trouble, it can be disastrous. Go to God immediately!

· Be certain what you hold onto is not going anywhere. Again Barbara in desperation grabbed the most solid thing she could, the plumbing. That was wise; we need to be equally wise in what we choose to hold onto for dear life. The storm is coming, Barbara could not control that what she could control was what she hung onto. As the storm whirls around you, taking out some things you may have grown accustomed to, things you may have trusted, be sure of this God is not going anywhere; find him and hold on tight.

Storms do not last forever, even though it may seem like they do. Let me assure you that someday you will look up and realize the storm has passed almost as suddenly as it arrived. The world around you may look very different, you more than likely will be stronger from the experience, but the storm itself will be gone. At that moment do what Barbara did; go to the one waiting on you, the one who loves you. For Barbara it was her husband a few miles away who missed the storm. For us it is a loving God who was there in the midst of the storm the whole time.

When it comes to holding on for dear life make sure the arms you find yourself in are God’s; He is not going anywhere.

Scripture: Psalm 9:9-10, “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, we are thankful indeed that we have a God that loves us, that walks through the storms with us and keeps us in safe care. We praise your name that you will never leave us or forsake us. Today we simply say thanks, in the name of Christ, Amen.