Weather the Storm
He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Psalm 107:29
It is amazing to see the power of giant storm. The technology that we have available today to track storms gives us the ability to prepare for almost anything. The ability to know a storm is on its way allows us to board up the windows, prepare the generator, buy dry food, make extra ice or in the worst cases we are able to leave home and make refuge elsewhere.
Like a storm, life can be very unpredictable. And also, like a storm, there are things we can do to prepare for life’s events. Sometimes however, life can be unpredictable and produce a violent wind and flood that seems unbearable. In times like these, do you know where to take refuge? The prophet Nahum tells us, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” (Nahum 1:7)
We always pray that God will make the storm be still, but often God is using that storm for reasons that are unbeknownst to us. Why will God not just calm the storm as He does in the Psalms or for the Apostles on the Sea of Galilee? (Mark 4) Well, in both cases, we see a story of dependence on God, not a prayer for immediate release, but a true salvation. Nahum knew this when he wrote his prophecy that depicts the refuge believers would take in the Lord in light of the Assyrians violent destruction and rule over Israel. Nahum said that God “knows” then, He is not taking away the storm that was pressing down on them.
So, what does it mean to make the storm be still? There are two very specific answers: Hope and Salvation. Hope is the certainty that Jesus will follow through with the promise that He gave us. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (1 John 5: 13-14) Salvation is the loving embrace we receive by our Father when He pulls us into His presence and give eternal refuge from the storm. He will make the storm exist no more. (John 10: 28-29)
When the storms of life bear down hard on you or your family, He is aware, He is still at work. When you beg for rescue and are too weak to fight, He has already won the fight that matters most. When the storm of life has taken from you and your loss is permanent, He restores and make all things new. When a giant storm passes, we plan for fixing the glass, rebuilding the house and making all things new. When the storms of life pass, we need to find our refuge in Him and know that the rebuilding happens not now, but in eternity. No matter how big or bad that storm is, our God rules over all. “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: 38-39)
