Daddy I didn't know you were so strong.
Daddy I tried and tried to carry it by myself but I couldn’t do it because it was too heavy. I didn’t know what to do but when I called you - you came and carried it for me. It was too heavy for me….
Daddy I didn’t know you were so strong.
Daddy I was so scared. It got dark and I looked around and couldn’t find my way. I was lost and all alone but when I called you – you came and showed me the way. It was dark and I was so scared but…..
Daddy I didn’t know that you were right there with me the whole time.
Daddy, Daddy I dropped it and broke it and now it will never be the same. I tried to fix it but I don’t know how to put all these pieces back together. Look at you Daddy you fixed it back even when it was in pieces…..
Daddy I didn’t know you were so smart.
Our relationship with God is experiential. We learn by walking through darkness and experiencing the unthinkable while watching Him do miraculous things in our lives. Like a child watching their Daddy.
His compassion. His strength. His provision. His patience. His protection. His kindness. His wisdom. Each valley that I enter gives me a different vantage point that shows a unique side of God. Like a child who learns who their Daddy really is and what he is capable of by experiencing the strength, the wisdom, and the protection that he shows as he intervenes on their behalf.
Joshua 4 tells an amazing story of faithfulness. The ark of the Lord (representing God) was standing in the middle of the riverbed holding back the rushing waters so the people could cross on dry land. Verse 11 says “as soon as all of the people had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched.” God stayed there in the middle of the riverbed holding back the water until the job was complete. While the people watched. They watched Him work on their behalf while experiencing what He was capable of doing. They learned more about Him by watching Him work a miracle in their lives. Verse 24 says, “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful.”
They watched - they experienced - and they learned just how capable God was. They learned that He would do anything, provide anything, move anything, stop anything, and repair anything for His children.
Our storms? They are teaching grounds to the multidimensional power of God.
How could I ever understand His strength if I had not watched Him take the heavy burden from my shoulders.
How could I ever understand the omnipresent protective nature of God if I had not walked through the darkness alone unable to find my way.
And how could I ever understand His sovereign wisdom if I had not watched Him piece a life back together that had fallen apart.
When darkness comes your way – look closely at God. Take the chance to watch Him work, to experience Him in a different way and to learn something else about His nature – something else about His power and something else that He is capable of doing as He works on your behalf.
That, my friend, may just be the reason for the storm - So that you may know that the hand of the Lord is powerful (Joshua 4:24).
Father God - Psalm 105:4 says for us to keep our eyes open for God, and to watch for his works. Help me to approach the storms I encounter and hard things that happen in my life as a way of watching you work in my life. Let me see a different side of You as I watch You work; let me learn more about the magnitude of your power, as I watch you work; and let become closer to you than I ever have before as you carry me through the storms I may face, and as I watch you work on my behalf. I do love you. Amen.
