Storms

Some people like a good old fashioned thunder storm.  Years ago when I lived just outside London Ontario, I used to sit on the front porch in awe watching the lighting bolts coming down in the corn fields across the road.  I had never seen lightening like that before.  However a few months later I remember sitting on the floor shaking as a tornado passed by just a few kilometers away.  The damage it did was incredible.  Some storms are worse then others, some produce more damage then others, but the one common things about storms is that we all experience them.

We all also experience storms in our lives, some worse then others.  A lost job, loss of health, a death, break-down in family relations, car troubles...the list could go on and on.  How do we handle these storms?  Do we sit in the dark and shake with fear or do we watch with awe to see how our Heavenly Father will work it all out for us? 

Mark 4:37 & 38  "And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And He (Jesus) was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow:  and they (disciples) awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest Thou not that we perish?"

Here we find the disciples, men who for the most part were used to the sea, for some of them where fishermen, in the middle of a great storm.  However here is what I want you to see, Jesus was with them.  He was right there in the middle of the storm with them!  But the disciples thought that He didn't care that they were about to die because of this storm.  Isn't this exactly how we react to the turmoil of the storms of life that we find ourselves in.  We forget that Jesus is with us, we are not alone.  Then we accuse the Lord of not caring for us.  Don't be hard on the disciples for their reaction, for we react the same way!

Mark 4:39 - 41  "And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful?  How is it that ye have no faith?  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

The disciples cried for the Master and He straightway came to their aid.  How often have we cried out to the Lord in a panic because of some calamity and He immediately comes to our aid?  He is right there beside us the whole time, but in the fear of the moment He is obscured from our view, our eye is on the problem not the Savior.  Why are WE so fearful, how is it that WE have no faith.  We are no different then the disciples. 

I have seen outright miracles this past week in the storm that touched my home, the storm of death.  Yet my Master has been right beside me the whole time saying, "Peace, be still."  He allowed the storm to teach the disciples about faith and trust.  He allows the storms in our lives to teach us the same thing.  Our faith grows and our trust deepens with each storm that touches our lives.  But we have no need of fear because the Creator of the storm is in the boat with us.

Psalms 138:7  "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me:"

Psalms 9:9  "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble."

Psalms 34:17 - 19  "The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart:  and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous:  but the LORD delivereth him out of them all."

How precious are these promises in God's Holy Word!  The LORD will revive, is a refuge, He hears, delivers and saves.  How blessed we are.  The next time the waves of a sudden storm engulf you, remember the Lord Himself is right there beside you.  Learn to become thankful for the storms of life.  They drive us closer to our Savior, they deepen and stretch our faith and trust in the Lord.  Remember also that the world is watching our reactions.  We need to face these storms with a sweet trust and dependency on the Lord that will show to the lost what a wonderful Savior we have.

Psalms 37:39  "But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD:  He is their strength in the time of trouble."

The Lord's our Rock, in Him we hide, A shelter in the time of storm:

Secure whatever ill betide, A shelter in the time of storm.

 

A shade by day, defense by night, A shelter in the time of storm:

No fears alarm, no foes affright, A shelter in the time of storm.

 

The raging storms may round us beat, A shelter in the time of storm:

We'll never leave our safe retreat, A shelter in the time of storm.

 

O Rock divine, O Refuge dear, A shelter in the time of storm:

Be Thou our helper ever near, A shelter in the time of storm.

 

O Jesus is a Rock in a weary land, A weary land, a weary land:

O Jesus is a Rock in a weary land, A shelter in the time of storm.

 

                                                  Vernon J. Charlesworth