Praise in the Midst of the Storm Sample

### I of the Storm Most storms that come into our lives come seemingly out of nowhere. It’s like you are sitting on the beach with the sun shining on your face as you sip on some sweet iced tea, listening to the sound of the soothing waves crash onto the shore...so serene, so peaceful, BUT then all of the sudden life brings a massive tsunami and overtakes you by surprise and sweeps you into a storm. If we are really honest with ourselves, some storms we bring into our own lives, by our own choices, our own stubbornness, selfishness, and pride. Some storms we cause. We stir the waters and we rain down our own demise by our own decisions, poor choices, and actions. Will we then wallow in self-condemnation asking ourselves why did I do that? OR…. Will we find the “I” of the storm? In a hurricane, the eye of the storm is the center of the storm, while the rest of the storm rotates around it. It also is the lowest place of pressure in the storm—the quiet, calm place. In the “I” of the storm, we can ask and we can hear. We can ask ourselves questions and wait to hear the answers from God. It's a place of self-reflection, self-examination, and introspection. We can ask ourselves, “Did I do this, was this brought on by a choice I made? Did my pride and my desire to want things to go my way bring on this storm into my life?” We can ask ourselves, “What did I do? What did I say? What choice did I make to get me into this storm? What choice can I make to start heading in the right direction out of this storm?” If we quiet ourselves and listen, God will speak in His still, small voice what may have caused the storm to start and will then show us the next steps out of it. You have to surrender yourself to the Maker of the waves and trust He is in control and knows what's best. You may not always have the power to control, but you certainly always have the power to surrender. So you can throw up your arms and say to God, "I surrender!” Take a moment to surrender to God with the song 'I Surrender' by Hillsong found below