Stormy Weather: Twenty-Five Lessons Learned While Weathering the Storms of Life

By Natalie Brown Rudd

Storm clouds looming above?

Feeling overwhelmed by the crisis you are experiencing?

Where can we turn for help when dark storm clouds are hovering above, threatening to turn our world upside down? Do we retreat and hide from the world? Or is there another option?

Stormy Weather suggests that we retreat to the word of God where we are assured that God is our refuge and a present help in times of troubles. Stormy Weather is a guide to help you weather the storms of life. Whether it is a storm threatening your finances, your marriage, your job, health, or your relationships; no matter what kind of storm you are facing, Stormy Weather will help you to embrace the crisis and rise above the threatening waves that are trying to overtake you. Whether you are in a storm or fresh out of one, you will be reminded that God promises to be with us through it all.

Stormy Weather has become a part of my morning worship. Although it sounds strange to imply that the storms of life are welcomedas Rudd compellingly revealsthe truth is that theyre necessary and guaranteed, so I am learning to embrace by faith. I love the combination of personal testimony, Scripture, songs, and powerful declarative statements captured in this guidebook. This is an inspiring testimony of the power of revealing vulnerability and an excellent tool for ushering in the spirit of the Lord.

Danielle Price, Teach Director, Antioch Baptist Church

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490868523

Natalie Brown Rudd

Natalie Brown Rudd is an associate minister at Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, where she serves in the women’s ministry as a small-group Bible study leader. She is a student at Ashland Theological Seminary and is the founder of Because of His Grace Ministries, which influence the spiritual growth of women. She is a sought-after speaker and teacher at churches, conferences, seminars, and Women’s Day services. Natalie is available for speaking engagements and may be contacted through her website at www.becauseofhisgrace.com.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 Natalie Brown Rudd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6851-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6853-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6852-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015901577

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/04/2015

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

How to Use this Book

Lesson 1 Storms Turn One’s Life Upside Down

Lesson 2 Storms Are Holy Ground

Lesson 3 Storms Change Your Focus

Lesson 4 Storms Are for a Far Greater Purpose

Lesson 5 We Run from Pain

Lesson 6 Storms Are Meant to Take Us Higher

Lesson 7 God Blesses Us in the Storms

Lesson 8 We Cannot Avoid Inner Work

Lesson 9 We Must Praise God in the Storms

Lesson 10 Getting Rest Is Important

Lesson 11 It Really Is Okay to Cry with Someone

Lesson 12 Storms Are Invitations, Not Interruptions

Lesson 13 The Holy Spirit Is Our Pilot in the Storms

Lesson 14 We Have to Trust the Process

Lesson 15 In Your Storm, Pray for Someone Else

Lesson 16 We Have to Keep Moving

Lesson 17 Jesus Sticks Closer than a Brother

Lesson 18 God Will Have His Way

Lesson 19 Storms Make Us Take Off Our Masks

Lesson 20 We Can Never Forget Who God Is

Lesson 21 Storms Teach Us to Depend on God’s Word

Lesson 22 Storms Help Us to See Things God’s Way

Lesson 23 Storms Don’t Keep Us from God

Lesson 24 Storms Remind Us of Past Blessings

Lesson 25 In the Storm, Do Not Lose Heart

One Last Thought

Appendix

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Sources

This book is dedicated to my dad, the late Minister Elijah Brown Jr. and my mom, Gwendolyn Brown, for laying the foundation of Jesus Christ in my life and to my daughter, Alexis for teaching me to keep dancing in the midst of the storms.

Foreword

I’m sure there have been times in your life when you’ve felt like there were more rainy days than sunny days and that you didn’t know how you were going to make it through without drowning. However, it’s important to know and recognize the difference between a rainy day and an actual storm. A storm is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as a serious disturbance of an element of nature. Sometimes, certain elements in your life present serious disturbances: Your mortgage is being foreclosed, you’ve been downsized and are too old to get another job, you have medical insurance but can’t afford the co-pay, you are working full time and taking care of an elderly family member (or members), someone in your family has a long-term illness … the list can go on and on.

It’s inevitable that we all go through storms. It’s how we handle the storm that’s important. Do you question why God allowed the storm in your life? Do you become angry with God and others around you, or do you recognize each storm as an opportunity to praise God? If you truly want to see the storms of your life in a different way, if you want to look at them through the eyes of God, and if you want to learn how to handle them, then this book is for you!

I’ve known Natalie Brown Rudd since she was teenager, and it has been a joy to watch her grow and mature into adulthood. Yet it was in my Bible study class that I really got to know her well and observe her love for the Lord and for His Word, and to see His wisdom blossom and grow in her. I saw her accept the call to the preaching ministry, and I was blessed to see her go through her storms. I witnessed firsthand how she handled the challenges and emerged a more trusting, confident, and faithful Christian. As you read this book, you will witness a personal testimony of how a child of God should, and can, handle the storms of life.

If you are currently experiencing a storm, then the way Natalie tells the story of her right-now storm experience is enough to encourage you to say, If God did this for Natalie, then He will certainly do it for me, too. Natalie’s writings also show those of you who are approaching a storm how to get through it, where to direct your focus, and how to recognize that there is a purpose for your storm.

For those of you who are coming out of a life storm, this book can be a measuring stick to show you how much of your life you have really given to the Lord. Do you still trust God and give Him praise? Have you come out of your storm a changed person? When you finish reading, no matter where you are in the storm journey of your life, you will realize that you can face any of life’s storms because you know that God is in control. You know that He has a purpose for your particular storm, and you know that your trust is always safely placed in Him and Him alone!

Deacon Delores Brown

Relationships Director

Antioch Baptist Church

Cleveland, Ohio

Introduction

These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

(John 16:33 KJV)

It’s 1:00 a.m. on July 11, 2012. I have to go to the bathroom, but, as I move around in bed, I realize that I have a tiny pinch of chest pain. Now I question myself: Did I wake up because I have to go to the bathroom or because I have chest pain? Hmm … but the pain is so tiny. Is it real?

As I walk to the bathroom, I don’t notice any other problems. I think to myself, I must be imagining it.

I walk back to the bedroom and sit on the edge of the bed to assess if the pain is still there. Yes, it is there—the size of the tip of my index finger.

I ask the Lord what I should do and to please make it clear, no time to second-guess. Do I go back to bed, or do I call 9-1-1?

As I lie back down in the bed, the pain becomes more widespread. It travels up my neck, across my chest, and to my left shoulder.

It is clear now: Call 9-1-1.

Several hours later, I was at the emergency room. The ER doctor said I had a condition called pleurisy, an inflammation around the lungs that can cause chest pain. I said to myself, Pleurisy? No way! How? Clearly, he doesn’t know what he is talking about.

Out loud, I said, Doctor, are you sure it is pleurisy?

Any tuberculosis? he asked.

No, sir, I replied.

Have you had any recent trauma to your chest, congestive heart failure, or a collapsed lung?

No, sir, I have not, I replied sternly so he could sense my impatience.

Then it must be related to an upper-respiratory infection or a virus, he said.

"I don’t have any upper-respiratory signs or