StormWatch

This last week in So. California we’ve had our share of storms. Being a predominantly desert region this is not a common occurrence, yet it’s good for all of us to remember how nature—and, of course, God—really does control creation. With storms being on my mind all week it was, once again, somewhat ironic that my wife blessed me with yet another tidbit of wisdom the other night for which I can write about. Thank you, honey.

We were on the subject of anxieties and she stated quite profoundly, “Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes He simply calms the person.” Well, boy, did I latch on to that pearl of insight right away. And it is so true.

I quickly visited my favorite online Bible search engine and did lookups on the word “storm”. I found numerous examples which affirmed this truth that God does, indeed, approach our troubles in different ways…depending, of course, on how He knows it will benefit us most.

One of the most well known accounts is found in the first three Gospels where Jesus and His disciples were crossing a lake one evening when a violent storm arrived. Jesus was calmly sleeping while the disciples freaked out…pretty much the way a lot of us do every day at signs of trouble. Jesus tisk-tisked them saying, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Jesus then rebuked the storm and the waves immediately died down and all was well.

On the other hand…you also find accounts where God allowed the storm to prevail so as to build up the faith and character of the person enduring it. There is no better example than what Job went through. God was proud of His faithful follower and gave the devil a lot of latitude to try and break him down. Although Job questioned why his life was being turned upside down with trial after trial, he ultimately still praised God for the life he was given and ended up being blessed with greater rewards. The real triumph, however, was that his faith was even stronger and he has become a timeless witness for every one of us that God should be praised under all circumstances.

Storms can be scary; life can be scary. We can all be assured, though, that God will calm the situation…or us…or both. It may not always feel like God is in control, but He is. He allows things to happen that we’ll never quite comprehend but with faith…we can lift our praises high to the One that holds all things in His hands.

Greg Morton
© January 22, 2010