Most of you know our contributor for today. Though she has endured a tempest or twelve, Tam has lived to tell about it. And now she is happy to share some of her trials with us in our Tempest Tale for today.
UMBRELLA
by Tam
When aNewCreation asked me to be a part of Tempest Tales, I was glad to be involved. But I was not sure what I would write, so I thought about it for several days. For those of you who know my tale, you might be wondering why I would have a problem writing a story about personal trials. aNew had listed several options to write about: drugs, suicide, depression, abortion, abuse, and so on. But I quickly realized that I could write a Tempest Tale each of those.
There was a time whe my life was a constant tempest, but that time is so far in the past I can barely connect to it today as I attempt to detail how I almost drowned in the downpours of my choices and their consequences.
For about five years straight I lived in a perpetual tempest. And for four of those years, I lived a gutter existence. I did drugs, endured two abortions, and, at nineteen, married a man who was fifteen years my senior. He also abused me–before ultimately taking his own life. I barely escaped that madness. But those circumstances took me to California, where my life would change dramatically.
It was not until the summer of 1990, as I started finding my way to God, that I realized just how dysfunctional and destructive my life had been–though, at the time, it was my “normal”. I had adjusted quite well to it. But, when I met God and my eyes were opened, truly opened, I suddenly saw everything very differently–and very clearly. For the first time, I had found an escape, a reprieve–in His safety, His promises, and His word.
Miraculously, it had all happened in an instant.
It seems that mine is a rare case where I can walk away from the pit and never look back. And yet, why would I? After experiencing God on that day–after finding refuge in Him–I found no reason to dwell on my past. That would be a waste. And that is how my mind, and my heart, process things. Of course, I am not saying that it is right or wrong; simply, that it is me.
Have I been hit with a tempest or twelve since that day? Yes, I have. But God is my umbrella. No tempest can truly harm me. I might get wet and blown around and bit by the winds, but I become stronger because of it–all for His glory.
I just don’t see that there is any other way.
Now, I see sunshine. And when I am caught in a storm, I set my eyes on the coming rainbow. And I push on to get there.
In this life, there will always be a tempest. The rain, after all, falls on the just and unjust. But it is His sovereignty that trumps it all.
And that is where my eyes are set.
