Asleep Through the Storm

It’s been a week since the devastating tornadoes tore through my home state of Kentucky. I am beyond grateful that my family is safe and no damage happened to our home or property, but the same cannot be said for hundreds of others in our state unfortunately.

If you’re not from Kentucky it’s hard to comprehend how unusual and unheard of tornadoes are here, much less in the month of December. No one was expecting it which I think makes the miles of destruction that much harder to process. Thousands of people are out of power and many others have lost everything including beloved family members. There is much grieving taking place in my old Kentucky home.

As I was reflecting back on the devastation that is rampant throughout my state, I was struck with a thought that I just had to share.

Around 4:00 AM on Friday night, as the tornadoes were striking, my husband and I received the tornado watch alert. We immediately took action and prepared to take cover in our closet. As my husband prepared the closet to make room for us, I went to get our 6 month old son who was sleeping soundly in his crib. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of knowing you have to take your son from his crib to protect him, but also dreading the fact that you’ll disturb his peaceful slumber and wake him up a full two hours before he’s supposed to be awake. I gingerly picked him up, covered his head with a blanket, and took him downstairs. He didn’t stir at all. I got us settled in the closet and he still didn’t wake. We sat there for about 45 minutes and still he didn’t make a peep, he was sound asleep. I was relieved, but still dreaded putting him back in his crib just knowing that that would wake him up. After the all clear signal, I carefully placed him back in his crib and waited anxiously for him to cry out. Would you believe it that he then proceeded to sleep perfectly until he woke around 6?!

Besides the fact that this is a bit of parental triumph I was struck with a spiritual parallel. Just as I longed for my sweet boy to feel safe and find comfort in the middle of the storm, Christ desires the same for each of His children. He wants so badly to hold us close in the midst of our disaster and remind us that He will never leave nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) He wants us to rest peacefully in His arms, as my son did, and not be troubled by the howling winds.

Those winds look differently in each of our lives. Some may see their winds as the back-breaking job they face each day. For others that wind is the abusive marriage they can’t escape. Whatever scale your winds may reach, we all long for the comfort and peace that only our Father’s arms can provide.

So I encourage you to just rest. Like my baby boy, don’t allow the thunder, lightning, and winds to trouble your thoughts and make you believe you’re alone. Because, my friend, you’re not alone now. You were never alone before, and you’ll never be alone in whatever the future may hold. I pray that you find rest in your Father’s arms today.