THE STORM HAS PASSED, BUT THE TURBULENCE REMAINS
Finding Faith in the Turbulence: Why the Shaking Doesn't Mean You're Still in the Storm
I flew into St. Louis in the middle of a severe thunderstorm, and baby… let me tell you, that flight preached a whole sermon.
As we approached the city, the pilot came over the speaker.
“Sit tight. We're going to stay right here until we're cleared to land. The tower says if we can just hold on another 15 to 20 minutes, we'll miss the worst of it.”
So we did exactly what we were told.
We tightened our seatbelts.
We leaned back.
We stayed in position.
And we trusted the voice of the one who could hear the tower.
There was nothing we could do from our seats to change the weather. We couldn't clear the runway. We couldn't navigate around the storm. We couldn't see everything the pilot could see or hear everything the pilot was hearing.
Our job was simply to remain in position and trust.
Then came the announcement we had been waiting for:
“All right, folks. We've been cleared to land.”
And here is the part that preached to me.
The Storm Was Over, But the Shaking Wasn't
Even though the worst of the storm had passed, the turbulence was still there.
From the moment we began our descent until the wheels touched the ground, that plane shook.
There was movement.
There was discomfort.
There was tension.
For a moment, the turbulence was so persistent that you could have wondered whether the storm had really passed at all.
But it had.
What we were experiencing was not the storm itself.
It was the residue of what we had already come through.
And I wonder how many of us are living in that exact place right now.
The storm has passed, but the turbulence remains.
The worst is over, but something in your life is still shaking.
The prayer was answered, but your nerves haven't gotten the message yet.
God brought you through it, but emotionally, mentally, financially, professionally, or even spiritually, you are still feeling the aftershocks.
Sometimes, the circumstances change before we do.
Sometimes, God has already brought us out, but our hearts are still bracing for the next hit.
And if we are not careful, we will mistake the residue of yesterday's storm for evidence that we are still in danger today.
Don't Mistake Turbulence for Trouble
Just because it is still shaking does not mean you are still sinking.
Just because you are experiencing turbulence does not mean you are headed toward destruction.
Sometimes, turbulence is simply evidence that you are moving.
You are descending.
You are transitioning.
You are getting closer to the place where your feet can finally touch solid ground again.
That realization changed the entire flight for me.
The pilot wasn't panicking.
While passengers may have been gripping armrests and watching the windows, the pilot remained focused because he had information we didn't have.
He was listening to the tower.
And there was my word.
When life gets shaky after the storm, keep listening to the Tower.
For me, that Tower is Jesus.
When I cannot see what is ahead, He can.
When I don't understand why things are still shaking, He does.
When my emotions tell me something is wrong, I have to remember what God has already said.
The shaking does not get to override the instruction.
Stay in Position
There was another lesson in that airplane.
Nobody got up and tried to help the pilot land.
Nobody decided the turbulence meant it was time to unfasten their seatbelt and start walking around the cabin.
We stayed seated.
We stayed fastened.
We stayed in position.
There are seasons in life when faith looks less like running and more like remaining.
Remaining faithful.
Remaining prayerful.
Remaining obedient.
Remaining in position, even when everything around you feels uncertain.
We often want God to stop the shaking before we trust Him. But sometimes faith says, “God, even while it is shaking, I believe You know exactly where You are taking me.”
Isaiah 43:2 reminds us:
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you…”
Notice that the promise is not that we will never encounter the waters.
The promise is that we will not go through them alone.
You Are in Transition
Maybe that is the word you need today.
You are not necessarily in trouble.
You may simply be in transition.
The turbulence does not mean the promise has been canceled.
The shaking does not mean you heard God wrong.
The discomfort does not mean you are going backward.
And the fact that you have not landed yet does not mean you will not arrive.
Sometimes, the final descent is uncomfortable.
But uncomfortable and unsafe are not always the same thing.
So, if life has been shaking lately, resist the urge to panic.
Remember what God already told you.
Remember what you already survived.
Remember the prayers He already answered.
And most importantly, keep listening to the Tower.
The shaking does not mean failure.
The turbulence does not mean destruction.
You may simply be coming in for your landing.
So hold your peace.
Stay seated.
Keep your faith fastened.
The Tower is still speaking.
And you are going to land this thing safely.
A Final Reflection
There are times when we ask God to calm the storm when what we really need is the faith to trust Him through the turbulence that remains after it.
So ask yourself:
Am I reacting to the storm I am actually in, or to the residue of one God has already brought me through?
Maybe everything shaking around you is not a warning to turn back.
Maybe it is confirmation that you are finally coming in for a landing.
Stay fastened. Stay faithful. Stay in position.
Solid ground may be closer than you think.
