Today as I sat barricaded behind two locked doors and listened as the most recent thunderstorm made its way over the house, I realized something: a drenching thunderstorm can seem exciting and even cozy when experiencing it in a warm house with someone close, but it is a frightening thing to face when you’re all alone in a big empty place that’s not your own.
You don’t need to ask the details, why I was barricading myself against a simple thunderstorm, or why I was in someone else’s big, empty house in the first place… those are things it would take too much unnecessary time and effort to explain. And anyway, that’s not the point.
Storms come along all the time, but sometimes you can’t see or hear them. Sometimes they are storms of confusion, anxiety, stress, or fear. Sometimes they paralyze your mind, and only very rarely your body. Small or large, storms are common to mankind. But any storm, regardless of its starting point or ferocity, is more fearful when experienced alone. When you’re by yourself, there is no comfort to be found, nothing warm to cling to, and a lack of assurance that “everything is going to be alright”.
Why, then, do we spend so much time alone, struggling against our storms, internalizing them and allowing them to hold us captive as we fight a losing battle against them? For example, I often find that I isolate myself as I fight such enemies as depression, or rejection. Why doesn’t my heart clue my brain in that isolation only makes these feelings worse, these battles harder to win? It should speak up, because although my brain tends to use ill-conceived logic based on cultural norms, my heart knows that I don’t have to fight alone. I have a strong knight on a white horse to do my fighting for me.
Yeah, yeah, so they always told you that the proverbial “knight in shining armor” is just a storybook character, a fairytale created by those who wish on stars and flee houses that look haunted. Well, let me inform you otherwise. Actually, let God. In Revelation 19 (verses11-16) he describes our Knight, who is mighty to save, who is stronger than any foe, and who can whip a storm into shape quicker than the wink of an eye. Let me enlighten you… and remember that this secret weapon is on our side.
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, [follow] him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has the name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Frightening? Yes. More frightening than a storm? Most definitely. This Knight of ours is the Son of the Almighty, and everything is under his feet. You can no more stand up to him than an ant could stand up to a hurricane. But the good news is, you’re not meant to. If you are willing, he will draw you in to his band of brothers and sisters, and you will be victorious with him. Victorious against every storm, every enemy, and everything that sets itself against you.
It’s not easy, but it’s simple: Stand with him, and you’ll never fall to anything else. And yes, that includes every storm, both visible and not.
You may feel like your storm is too small for him to concern himself with. You may wonder if your fear of flight (or stress about school loans, or grief at the death of your kitty) is a big enough deal to bring up to the King of all creation. I understand exactly how you feel. I wonder those same things sometimes, myself. But let me assuage your doubts (and my own) with another quote from the Word.
“Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”
That one is pretty straightforward and obvious. Give it all to him. Every anxiety, every stress, every doubt… every last storm. When you face them with him, he suddenly becomes the biggest thing in your line of sight… and everything else becomes nothing. You won’t even hear the thunder anymore.
