Running Toward the Storm

I recently learned something fascinating about American bison. When a storm rolls across the plains, most animals instinctively run away from it.

Bison do the opposite.

They turn and run directly into the storm. Why? Because by running toward it, they shorten the amount of time they spend in it. The storm is inevitable. The difference is how they choose to face it.

Bison are uniquely equipped for the journey. Their thick coats help protect them from the wind, rain, and snow. They were created to withstand what would send other animals running.

As I thought about that, I couldn't help but wonder how often we spend our lives running from the very things God is calling us to walk through.

We pray for God to remove the storm. We ask Him to make the diagnosis go away, fix the marriage without the difficult conversations, heal the trauma without confronting it, or change our circumstances without changing us.

We spend our time trying to outrun what God may be using to prepare us.

Yet Scripture never promises us a storm-free life. In fact, Jesus promised quite the opposite.

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Storms are part of living in a broken world. They are unavoidable. The question is not whether they will come, but whether we will trust God enough to walk through them.

The beauty is in the fact that we do not face the storm alone. God is our shield.

Psalm 28:7 says, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me."

Psalm 91 describes God as our refuge and fortress, the One whose faithfulness is our shield and rampart. He doesn't simply point us toward the storm and wish us luck. He goes before us, walks beside us, and shelters us in the middle of it.

Like the bison's thick coat, God has not left us unprepared. He has clothed us with His promises, His Word, His Spirit, and His presence. He has given us everything we need to endure what He has called us to face.

Perhaps the hardest truth to accept is many of the things we are asking God to remove are the very things He intends to use.

Without the storm, there is no testimony.

Without the refining fire, there is no gold.

Without the wilderness, there is no Promised Land.

Without the cross, there is no resurrection.

The other side of the storm is often where God reveals what He has been preparing us for all along.

The healing you've been praying for may require walking through the painful work of forgiveness. The calling God has placed on your life may require seasons of obscurity and preparation. The ministry He has for you may be born from the very suffering you wish had never happened.

We don't run toward suffering because we enjoy it. We run toward what God has called us to because we trust Him.

There are times when obedience feels like stepping directly into dark clouds while everyone else is running the other direction. Faith is sometimes choosing to say, "I don't understand this storm, but I know Who is with me in it."

Maybe today you've been standing on the edge of your storm, exhausted from trying to avoid it. You've been circling it, bargaining with God, praying for another route.

Can I gently encourage you?

Stop running from what God is inviting you to walk through. The storm may not disappear, but your time spent fighting against it can.

Trust that God has equipped you for this season.

Trust that He is your shield.

Trust that what awaits on the other side is not merely survival, but transformation.

The bison runs toward the storm because it was created to endure it.

Child of God, so were you—not because you are strong enough on your own, but because the One who goes with you is.

Run toward the storm. God is already there.