Moving Forward Through the Storm
By: Michael Horner
Tags: Inspiration, Spirituality, Truth, Hope, Faith

At the top of a mountain pass after a long and winding climb, I looked to the west and immediately knew that I might just have a problem.

The huge black cloud with the grey streaks of rain and the lightning bolts thundering down looked ominous.

As I stood there looking at what was coming my way, I had to decide if I should turn around and head back to my car or continue on the trail I was on, I knew turning around was not the best choice. There were three creek crossings and the second creek was already high and flowing fast.

The trail down the west side of the mountain was longer as I had to get to the bottom and then head back east to get back to my car. The only water crossing there would be a small creek.

As I resolved to move forward through the storm, I reflected on how much like life this trail run was turning out to be.

There are times in life where things don’t go perfectly and you have to make the choice to move forward through the storm or turn around and go back the other way and wait in the car.

As I moved forward on the trail, the rain came with a little bit of hail, but then a weird thing happened.

As I started back towards the east, the storm made a turn in the direction I had just come from. Instead of getting soaked, I was treated to bright sunshine and a beautiful double rainbow.

I rejoiced in deciding to move forward through the storm and making my run a little longer, but lots dryer.

When I arrived back at my car I met up with two friends who had begun the run later than me. They came out of the canyon looking like a pair of drowned rats.

When they saw me mostly dry, they in a very muddy, wet condition said, “how did you miss that storm?”

I told them I hadn’t missed it, I just moved forward through the storm and came out the other side.

This isn’t a story about missing the storm on your runs though. This is a story about how to move forward through the storms of life.

Move forward through the storms of life and you’ll be amazed at what’s on the other side of the storm.

I’ve been through many storms in life. Some of the storms caused paralysis where I couldn’t move forward or back in the midst of the storm.

Other storms have come and in fear of the lightning and the deluge, I’ve turned around and headed back the way I came thinking it was safer back there.

And then there are the storms in life where I have put my head down and moved forward through the storm. Sometimes the storm lasts forever. Sometimes I break through right away.

Every time I have moved forward through a storm of life, I’ve been amazed at what I’ve found on the other side.

Never once have I regretted moving forward through the storm.

That’s why when the devil whispers to me that a storm is coming, I just boldly tell him.

I AM THE STORM!

The Ability to Overcome the Storm is Already Deep Inside You

The sun always rises once you’ve gone through the storm. Photo by Arto Marttinen on Unsplash

Bobby Kennedy once said, “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”

Edward Kennedy at the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy delivered that quote with a quaking voice and it has always stirred within me a sense of not awe, but rather of questioning what is already deep inside of me.

When I went through one of the worse storms of my life, just thirteen short years ago, I thought all was finished. All my hopes and dreams lay shattered in a million little pieces of what I saw as failure, shame and incompetence.

One day I began running though and the further I ran, the more I examined the truth behind what I was feeling.

As I ran, I felt all the failures, all the shame and all the incompetence. And then I did something unusual.

I began to search deep inside myself and look at how I was created and who I was created to be. The deeper I went inside the storm of my feelings, the more I began to see the truth.

As I ran through quiet forests, never ending canyons and high mountain trails, I began to examine each of the feelings and apply truth to each one.

When Zig Ziglar said, “You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”, I began to see the truth behind my feelings and I began to believe the seeds of greatness were within me already.

Truth Will Always Overcome Feelings

There’s a clear day coming to your storm. It’s called TRUTH! Photo by Mohamed Nahissi on Unsplash

On a trail in the middle of nowhere I began to apply truth to each feeling.

Had I failed? Absolutely! I had failed to continue to apply truth to what I was supposed to be doing and got distracted by the need to be wanted. As I got distracted by doing things for others, I forgot who I was and who I was designed to be.

The truth that covers failure? Am I failure and will I forever be a failure? The truth is that no I am not a failure, I was designed for greatness and endowed by my Creator to be more than a conqueror.

All of us feel and believe stuff about ourselves that when examined under the microscope of truth begin to reveal something different about us.

The amazing thing about deciding to truly live again is that you will begin to see hopes and dreams revealed in a whole new life.

My hope for all of you is that you don’t have to become an ultra-runner to start living again. Hopefully something stirs deep within you as you read or listen to words of encouragement and you simply stand up and decide to start walking in a different direction.

Truth will always be a door opener. The lies we believe about ourselves will always close doors.

I have found in my short time on this planet that walking through open doors is a whole lot easier than trying to bust down the walls of lies I believe about myself.

If you would like to see more from this author and follow along this journey, please send an email to livinganultralife@gmail.com.