Quiet Storm

If you haven’t guessed it by now, I am a Hip Hop junkie.  Sorry, it’s the era I grew up in.  There’s one song that always stood out to me, and that is, “Quiet Storm,” by Mobb Deep.  From it’s opening crescendo to the sounds of rain pelleting in the background, it was both soothing and powerful.

I had to Google the meaning of a quiet storm and I learned from dictionary.reverso.net that they are quiet, tranquil and cause little to no disturbance.

This got me thinking about the quiet storms I have experienced in my life.  Those storms, where instead of everything raging out of control and tossing me to and fro, they gently rocked me a bit to remind me that God is control.  Psalm 107:29 speaks so clearly of just how in control of the storms God is, “He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.” (KJV)

Quite honestly, I braced myself for a horrible storm when I went through my recent divorce.  I just knew that all heck would break out.  It was one of those moments when I tried to out think God and because of His infinite wisdom in knowing just how much I could handle, He instead turned what I thought would be a raging storm into a quiet storm.

When I tell you I saw the clouds billowing and the winds start to blow when my ex-husband left, I felt I had no other choice but to brace for something big and disastrous to happen.  However, God instead took me quietly through the storm.  He brought me to the doorway of Pastor Yolanda Douthit and through her teachings, I was able to peacefully and calmly go through the storm.  It was a tranquil experience and in that, I held my peace and allowed the Lord to fight my battle, like Moses told the people in Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” (KJV)

Not only was the storm quiet, but I learned I too had to be quiet.  I had to shut my mouth and not carry my problems to every Sue, Sally, and Donna, but I had to only share my feelings with God and keep everyone else out of it while He fought for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I had that run tell that spirit where I wanted to let everyone know what had been done to me and my children, but God said no.  I knew clearly that I had to be silent in this storm or else the winds, rains, and waves were going to take me out.

I’m grateful for my quiet storm.  In my quietness and stillness, I cried out to God and He heard me and delivered me out of the storm and onto dry land with green pastures overflowing with my purpose.  I am sure that if I hadn’t gone through it quietly, I would have come out with bitterness, anger, and a stony heart.  That storm would have left me looking like Gilligan and Skipper after their ship was tossed ashore and I would have only landed on a deserted island with no doorway to my peace.

I am on the other side of my divorce and I am dry.  The rains did not flood my life or tear apart my home.  In fact, my kids and I are prospering and I am living my best life so far and it’s getting better every day.  I’m seeing the sun after the storm. God has been with me all the way.

Quiet storms are the ones that we fail to appreciate.  When we pass through them, we don’t realize the fact that they weren’t as devasting as they could have been and we omit our praises to God when the quiet storm is over.  We move on to the next thing in our lives but we have to acknowledge that the quiet storms in our lives are a blessing.  Why, because we come out dry on the other side.  We don’t have any signs of damage when the storms are over.

Our faith can help control the volume of the storms.  I have learned that if I believe something is going to be worse than what it looks like, then that is what tends to happen. However, when I believe that this too shall pass, that’s exactly what happens, the storm quietly passes by and that’s how my faith plays a part in controlling the volume.

Quiet storms happen with our spouses, kids, and even family members but it is so important to understand when a storm is meant to be a quiet storm and when it is one of those storms that may be raging.

As a mom, my kids have put me through some stuff and there were times when I got so mad and overreacted but those times weren’t meant for me to lose my cool.  I am getting wiser now and learning that some of things they take me through are just meant to be quiet storms.  It even amazes them when I don’t go completely off when they do something that would normally warrant me totally going off the deep end.  Praying to God, exercising my faith, and trusting that God will work it out when it comes to my kids, helps me to quiet the storms.

Ride out your quiet storms.  Recognize them when they come and allow God to take you through them and fight off the winds and rains for you.  Let your faith determine the volume of your storm so you can have peace and tranquility even when the rain fall.  Praise Him after the storm is over and walk in the sunshine of your purpose.

Deborah Woolard is a single mother of three from Raleigh, NC and she currently resides in Charlotte, NC.  She is an ordained & licensed minister and she serves as the Youth Director at R5 Church.  Her love for writing, especially poetry is one of the many ways God allows her to use her gifts for His glory.  Her poetry can be viewed at https://m.facebook.com/gracefullydsignedbydeborah/.