I was driving to work one morning this past week in a heavy rainstorm. The rain was coming down intensely toward me, but it was not able to touch me. Why? I was safe within the protection of the car.

This experience reminded me of living safe within God’s loving care all the time. Even though we rest comfortably there, there are sometimes storms of life rumbling fiercely around us. Storms come in the form of deadlines at work, school issues with our children, financial struggles, relationship problems and even holiday stresses. Sometimes just trying to make time to rest or spend time with family can be a stressor.

However, just as I recognized that the rain was pounding against my car but couldn’t touch me, we need to slow down and truly see that God is protecting us. Although we deal with the storms and work through the situations represented by each, it doesn’t have to harm us. I used to sing a song years ago entitled, In His Hand. There is one line in particular that impacted my life: “If we are in His hand, so are the trials.” God’s got this!

I was reminded of another experience years ago when I had accepted a new position at work. New responsibilities were added immediately, in addition to what I was already doing. One of the new responsibilities was to hire my replacement for my initial position, which meant it would take a while. This proved to be one of the most stressful periods I experienced in my career. I worked many extra hours and it seemed that I could not get much work done during the day because I was constantly being given more assignments, discussing the current ones during work hours, or handling issues that arose. This was exhilarating at first, but became overwhelming pretty quickly. It seemed that the only place I could get peace was in the elevator. I remember cherishing the feeling of comfort and peace during the brief ride among the four floors of the building which immediately turned back to chaos the moment the doors opened. It was as if God was strengthening me in those times for what was waiting for me.

Whether your peace in the storm or chaos is found in the car, the elevator, or your unique haven, be sure to spend enough time there to receive it. If you will do that, I am confident that you can live! . . . life to the fullest.