A Dangerous Lie: How Glorifying the Storm Undermines God's Goodness

You’ve probably heard the story about the lone Oak tree standing on a windy cliff. When a weaker tree commented that when it got strong, it would stand in the wind too, the Oak commented, “I didn’t wait to become strong before standing in the wind. I stood in the wind and learned to be strong.”

We humans try to make peace with the storm by saying it made us strong. We romanticize it, marvel at it, and credit it with shaping us into who we are today.

I have a different viewpoint.

Storms show the strength of your roots. You may be a pretty, flowering tree above the surface, but if your root base is shallow and weak, the first big gust of wind will blow you over. 

Living in the Central Valley of California for most of my adult life, I saw this a lot.

When we first moved to the area, it amazed me how a very mild “storm” would leave trees uprooted. From young saplings to mature trees, the city would be an obstacle course of downed trees. A gardener told me, “That is because our hardpan* is close to the surface. So we put boulders around the base of our trees. We drill down through the soil’s hardpan and install a vertical pipe for water. Then the roots go deep looking for the water.”

I was flabbergasted as the spiritual lessons from this started piling up in my brain. 

Strong trees come from deep roots.

Deep roots come from accessing deep water.

The same deep roots that help you stand in the storm will keep you flourishing in the drought.

Only roots that go deep will anchor you during a storm.

Deep roots will help you withstand both.

Storms bring out what lies dormant within.

God is the Creator and Crafter. 

You are strong because God made you that way- not because hard things come into your life. 

Strength lies within because the Strong One wove it into you at conception. You are a reflection of His image to the world. And his image is unshakable and eternal.

He deserves the credit for who you are and who you are becoming- not the raging storm.

I’ve seen hard situations bring families together. I’ve watched as they emerge from the storm, changed but stronger and more resilient.   

I’ve seen the same storm come into another family and break it, turning those once bound by love into hateful and angry people.

I’ve seen people, families, and organizations be obliterated by the same struggle that others survived.

Some people are broken by the very thing that makes others more determined to thrive.

Some people navigate the worst of storms and come out intact and exhilarated, while the same storm leaves others forever terrified of the wind.

Some break.

Some bend.

Some stand strong.

I am determined to be so intimately connected to God that I spot the storm a mile away and know the drought won’t evaporate my faith. If I give either the credit for making me strong, I am giving glory to the evil plans of the enemy. He is a destroyer, a murderer, and a thief. His intention is and always will be to keep us less than what we were created to be.

God intends for us to live abundantly, to love deeply, to be so acquainted with the Weather Maker that the weather doesn’t sway us.

*a distinct soil layer that is largely impervious to water.