I was sitting in my garden one day, pulling weeds. In the distance I heard thunder rolling in. I could tell from the sound that it wasn't too close, but it was coming.

        A few minutes later I heard it again, this time it was closer. As I sat there I thought 'Oh, good, this will bring some much needed rain on my garden, thank you God for this storm rolling in, please let it rain for a while so my garden is well watered.'

        I sat there and thought of what just came out of my mouth. Any other time I would have been in my house and heard thunder and had a different reaction. I would have thought, 'oh, I need to shut down computers and get ready, a storm is coming.' My thoughts would have been more negative than positive.


        Philippians 4:8 says; Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.

        Today when I read this scripture it had a different meaning to me, it is as if the writer is saying...'if you can think of ANYTHING good, think of that, if you can see ANY good in the situation, think on the good parts and praise God for the good part.'

        It is all in our perception I think. Today, I could see the good, the praiseworthy thing in a storm. I could see that storms aren't all bad; they have good and praiseworthy aspects as well.

        I know that there are times when it is a challenge to find something good in a situation but I also believe it is possible to find something good and praiseworthy. Even when we lost Jesse, the good and praiseworthy thing was that He was with God. As hard as it was for me and my family we can praise God for this wonderful hope that we have that we will see him again and he is with our God.

        Storms destroy some people, other people seem to rise above them and soar over them, finding the good and praiseworthy aspect and holding on to that. The difference is their perception. Those who are destroyed choose to view it from a strictly negative way - while others seek God's face and ask Him to show it to them from His perspective.

        I found myself doing just that the other day, as the storm rolled in and I saw it from a different perspective, I began to pray and ask God to show me His perspective of the storms I had been through - I ask Him to show me the good and praiseworthy things. I believe if I SEE it differently, I will react differently and feel differently about it. From now on I choose to stop and find something good and praiseworthy in every single thing that comes my way. I am not saying it will be easy, but as long as I have breath in my body I have something to praise God for. It is the enemy who wants us to see everything from a negative point of view - don't allow him in your thoughts.

        If you find yourself in a storm today, ask God to show you the good and praiseworthy things within the storm; He will. Allow the storms of life to cause you to rise to new levels in God. Allow those storms to water your seed and cause a harvest to spring up. Allow those storms to give you a new view. Storms make us stronger, they prepare us and they cause us to draw closer to God - allow the storms in your life to do just that. It is amazing what God can do if we will only change our perspective...He is so good and so faithful...all the time.

 Kim Potter