How to Remain Standing in the Midst of Storms

As believer’s we have a commitment to remain steadfast in our faith and unashamed of the Gospel. This can be difficult when unforeseen circumstances hit our lives. However, it is not impossible when the Lord is our Anchor.

In fact, I want to demonstrate the parallel of the resilience we must have in our spiritual lives with the use of a palm tree (Psalm 92:12-13).

Learning to Bend Without Breaking

1. Our connection to God is more important than our circumstances.

I recently sat and thought about the uniqueness of Palm trees and realized how they flourish in hot and humid environments. While many trees die in the heat, Palm trees flourish because their roots go so deep into the ground that they find water even if there is no rain outside.

What the palm tree teaches us is that our surroundings–where we are in life, the family that we are in, or what happened between our parents–is all out of our control. While we are not able to control the actions of others around us, we are responsible to ensure that our roots are grounded in God.

Many people grew up in unfortunate circumstances, with abuse or broken families, while others experienced a seemingly healthy upbringing but had an emptiness within. No matter what you may be experiencing, or feeling today, I want to encourage you that when you let your roots grow deep into God, you can flourish in any dry, difficult, or discouraging season because God is with you.

When I moved to the United States at age 13 with no English skills, I faced a lot of bullying and felt constantly ostracized. During this time I found refuge in the Lord, turning to Him in prayer. This quickly became the place where I found strength and this haven I had with the Lord allowed me to flourish because I had developed depth with the Lord. He became the source of my joy and strength in any season.

2. Cuts will not kill you (Ephesians 4:32).

Keeping with the palm tree representation, I want explain a process by which many trees undergo.

For many trees, when their bark is cut, the tree dies because its life is connected not only to its roots but to its bark. However, the Palm tree is different in this. Not only does it thrive in a tropical area, but if its bark is cut, it will not kill the tree because the tree’s source is not on the outside but rather within. In fact, what kills a palm tree is a cold environment. Similarly, in life we will get cut. It could happen from our friends, family, and the people nearest to our hearts. When we don’t have intimacy with God these wounds can travel into our heart and become infected.

Some of these “cuts” can become so deep and so damaging that it can actually cause many to lose their way as a believer.

The wrong way to deal with pain:

• Medicate it: Resorting to addictions as a temporary escape.
• Motivate it: Distracting yourself with busyness to avoid confronting pain.
• Meditate it: Continuously ruminating on the pain without taking steps to heal.

The right way of dealing with pain:

• Face it: Acknowledge the pain and the reality of the situation.
• Forgive: Let go of grudges and bitterness to move forward.
• Follow Jesus away from it: Embrace Jesus’s path of healing and righteousness.
• Find professional help: Seek guidance from experts to deal with deep-seated issues.

3. As you grow, break bands (Exodus 23:30).

Now, unlike other trees if you put a rope or even a chain around a palm tree, it will never let the chain grow alongside it. It will snap it as it grows. Now in the beginning the chain is stronger than it but as the tree starts to grow the rope/chain eventually gives in.

I believe that growing people change. There are things in our lives, when we just begin our walk with Jesus, where the enemy succeeds in putting a chain around us. We repent and say “I will never do it again,” yet we keep falling into the same cycle. So much so that we begin to accept it as part of who we are. I want to remind you to not accept your issue as your identity.

They might be something you are battling with but continue to battle it until the Lord gives you the victory that He promised to you because you are destined to walk in freedom. You are destined to walk in purity and righteousness.

4. If you bend, you won’t break (Job 1:20).

Another lesson we can learn from the Palm tree is that while it bends during storms, it rises back up after the storm is over.

In Job 1: 20, Job experienced a storm in his life. He lost everything, and the Bible says that when he lost everything, Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He  fell to the ground and worshiped. In the same manner, when a storm comes into our lives, there are a few ways that we can fight that storm.

We can try and overcome with our own strength or we can do what the palm trees do: they bend, and then the storms always pass over, and they go right back up. If you bend, you won’t break; if you bend in prayer, you won’t break by the pressure of the hurricane. If you bend in worship and you say, “Lord, I don’t understand what’s happening; I do not know why this is happening, God,” then the storm will pass and God will restore you.

Storms don’t last forever, and when they end, you will rise back up, and your faith will not be broken but made stronger. Afterwards, your assurance in God will not be cracked, but it will be made more confident, and your roots will grow deeper in Jesus Christ.

Remember that each trial we endure prepares us for greater blessings ahead. Stay rooted, remain resilient, and keep growing in faith, for it is through these things that we remain truly unshaken.

Read: Overcoming the Storms of Life