Walking Through the Storm

by Cindy Washbon

Our world today is different from the way it was just two months ago. We find ourselves separated from family, friends, co-workers and normal everyday routines. Many of us are experiencing a wide variety of emotions: despair, anxiety, fear, loneliness.

We often think of grief as an emotion only related to the death of a loved one. However, in this season many of us are grieving the death of a life that "was" and an uncertainty of what will "be". Grief does not come labeled as "One size fits all". Grief is a very personal emotion and uniquely different to each person.

So in this time of uncertainty, we must be patient with our loved ones. Everyone will process this season differently, and it will elicit different emotions within us. Some of us are more exhausted, others more energized by this change. Some of us wear our emotion on our sleeve; others bury it under busyness or binge-watching Netflix. Some may express grief through sorrow, others in anger. Many of us will feel anxiety and fear.

Whatever emotions are bubbling up, and however it is expressed, remember that our grief is unique to ourselves, shaped not only by our current life circumstances, but by our previous circumstances as well. Past wounds, past unresolved grief will color this current season of grief.

So there is no “right way” to walk through this storm; our grief is not "One size fits all." Perhaps the best gift we can give one another is permission to be messy, to be unresolved, and give one another both the space and time to grieve.

But one thing to keep in mind, as Christ followers, is that we don’t walk through this storm alone.

I think of another time my husband Reid and I found ourselves in a season of fear and confusion like this one. It was the Fall of 2013, and Reid had just undergone open heart surgery to repair a leaky valve. Two weeks into his recovery I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Within a month of being diagnosed I underwent a double mastectomy. Our lives were changing rapidly and we were very unclear what our future was going to look like. (Sound familiar?) At that time, I'm not sure we would have acknowledged that we were experiencing grief for the loss our past "healthy lives," but looking back I think we were.

I vividly remember the night of my surgery. I was kept in Pre-Op all night, without a regular nurse checking on me. It was a very long and uncomfortable night and I kept waking up with an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety. However, I was not alone. Every time I woke up, the words " Trust and Believe" interjected themselves into my “what if” worrying and I knew that my Heavenly Father was there to guide me through this storm. His presence gave me hope in the face of the unknowns.

Hope looks beyond our circumstances, to the one who stands above them. Our Creator hasn’t abandoned us or left us to fend for ourselves. He’s right here with us in the storm of uncertainty and “what if’s.” And He’s promised to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5). So our hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised and its strength is in His faithfulness.

We lament like the disciples did when they found themselves in the midst of another storm, one where all hoped seemed lost and yet Jesus was fast asleep in the bow: “Jesus, how can you possibly sleep through this?!" they cried. "Don’t you see what’s happening?” But their cries were not cries of despair, but rather cries for help. Though the wind and waves were overwhelming, their hope was in their Savior, who was in the storm with them. 

Like them, we find ourselves tossed by each wave of change, buffetted by the steady headwind of discouraging news. But like those disciples in the boat, we are not alone in this storm. And like the Psalmist, we cry, “Now Lord, what do I wait for? My Hope is in you.” Psalms 39.7 

We must allow our grief of a life and world that "was" to give way to a hope of what will be. And we need to remember that we are not enduring this alone. God is right here with us. As long as we keeping looking to Him and loving one another, we will get through this current storm we find ourselves in, and our faith may actually grow through it, not diminish. Why? Because our Father won’t abandon us. He won’t turn His back on us. He will be by our side showing us his grace and mercy through it all.

"O my people, trust in him at all times,
Pour your heart to him, for God is our refuge."
Psalms 62:8


*Cindy Washbon is a cancer survivor and a leader in Lighthouse Community Church's Cancer Support Ministry.