Pastor's Circle - Todd Hudnall

Todd Hudnall is the pastor of Radiant Church in Colorado Springs, CO. He joined the Pastor's Circle to discuss the "storms of life". Here are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

What kind of storms are we talking about?

One of the things that really struck me was when we talked about the source of our storms.

The tendency of so many people when storms come is to assume that God sent them, when so many storms that come into our lives really had nothing to do with God.

Ultimately, He allowed it, but many of them are self-imposed storms. It's more a matter of sowing and reaping than God's judgment on us.

I got a lot of feedback about how people really didn't put that together, that they're the source of the storms.

Give us some examples.

I think that the Bible lays that out when it says, "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life..." People choose not to do that.

They get involved in sexual relationships out of marriage, and when there's an unexpected pregnancy, or a sexually transmitted disease, they blame God.

They don't spend time with their children or nurture them, and when their kids rebel, they blame God.

We treat our bodies disrespectfully, and then when our health fails, we blame God.

People want to blame somebody, and God's an easy target.

I think a lot of it is more sloppiness than outright rebellion.

I think there's no doubt about that. If God would zap us every time we stepped out of line, I think we would stay inside the lines a lot more.

But his grace and mercy make us feel like we can get away with more.

And sloppiness is hard to recover from.

I think the Bible talks about that, when it talks about God "handing us over."

I think those are the most terrifying Scriptures in the Bible. There comes a place where you just can't get back.

How can you get out of your storm?

One of the passages I used was Acts 27, where Paul was in an actual storm. You need to "drop anchors" in your life before the storms come.

In Matthew 7, where Jesus talks about the two men who built their houses on the sand and the rock, both of the men have storms. It's all about how you prepared.