Unshackled Echo ~ March 25, 2017 ~ Praising In The Storm

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

June 20, 2013 as Praising In The Storm.

I was sure by now,

God would have reached down

And wiped our tears away

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say "Amen," and it's still raining

- Praise You In The Storm Casting Crowns

We do not have to live within the confines of our circumstances. What is happening to us and around us in the material world does not have to control what happens within us and in the spiritual realm, which is where we truly live. We can learn to overcome and live unbattered by the winds of the storms in our lives by focusing on Jesus. When we turn our eyes upon Jesus and off the circumstances causing pain and fear, we find the love and presence of the One who has been there and walked through that.

Trouble and distress are a part of this life, and if we are not living in the spirit then fear becomes a corrosive thread that ties the two together and stitches them to our minds and emotions. Without God there is no escape. 

There is escape through Christ. But escape doesn't always mean that the storm is going to end or that we'll find a place of shelter where we no longer feel the wind and the rain. Escape is found in the presence of Jesus, in walking through the storm knowing His hand is there to protect us, even though the storm continues to rage all around us, we are no longer afraid, it doesn't make us turn to another road, and we don't stop moving forward. When we keep going and the storm does not effect the condition of our lives except to make us squeeze the hand of God a little tighter and lean into Him for support, then not only have we escaped the destruction that the storm could have done, but we have grown because of it, and found it to become a blessing that brought us closer to our father.

We can face trouble with joy and peace, or as Jesus put it, good cheer. As we sit in prayer and meditation in the presence of the Lord, He shines peace into our troubled minds, hearts, and emotions. "And the things on earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." In the presence of God, we are freed from earthly shackles and lifted above our circumstances and the storms of life.

When we live spiritually in the presence of God and in relationship with Him, we gain His perspective on life and the storms we face. We see what is temporary and what is eternal. We find a better understanding of what is critical. We find rest and receive joy that can not be blown away by the storms of life or the people around us.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. 

- John 16:33 NKJV

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