Sunday July 3, 2022
Storm Chaser
The book of Nahum is an incredible book. It focuses on a single concern: the fall of the city of Nineveh one hundred years after the preaching of Jonah. In this first chapter, Nahum (whose name means “comforter”) describes God’s great power and how that works itself out in the form of protection for the righteous, but judgement for the wicked. His power is in the storm…that is why it is always a perfect storm. And that’s why we sometimes are storm chasers.
STORM WARNING! There is a storm coming. There is always a storm coming. That is the simple fact of a life in Christ…well, in every life. And sometimes those storms become powerful whirlwinds. In nature, a whirlwind occurs when two currents from opposite directions meet together where a circular motion results. For us, that would be where good and evil, God and Satan collide…with us in the midst. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of evil)
The Hebrew word for whirlwind means “a hurricane, a tempest,” and comes from a root word that means “to snatch away.” The word storm means “a sweeping away, a terror.” That is the very intent Satan has when we encounter them…to terrorize us and snatch us away from the arms of the Father. But God promises that in the torrent of the tempest, His way, His presence, and His peace can be found.
Storms are not fun. In fact they can be downright scary. But amazing things can happen in them. It was out of a whirlwind of loss and devastation that God answered Job. Think about that…the answer came from within the storm! God was there in the midst of it.
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said (Job 38:1)
Not only does scripture tell us that God is in the storm, He also rides upon them. Psalm 104:3 says, “He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind” (See also Zech.9:14). And we can never forget that Elijah was taken to the presence of the Lord in the midst of a whirwind (2 Kin.2:11).
After the storm is over, we normally see a path of destruction left by those ferocious and devastating storms. But God sees things a little differently (doesn’t He always?). There is a mighty promise we need to tuck away in our hearts…
When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation. (Pro.10:25 NKJV)
Did you catch that? God uses the effects of the storm as foundations for the righteous! And we know that God’s foundations are strong and sure. They provide a place on which we can stand when the next storm passes by. With each passing storm the foundation becomes stronger and stronger until we are never blown off them again. Praise God!
Back to the storm itself. In the New Testament we read of the power and authority of our Savior, Jesus, who calms the wind, the waves, and the storm. The storm conforms and heeds to Jesus’ command.
But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matt.8:26-27)
Whether we are caught in the sweeping currents of a storm or resting peacefully in the eye of it, we can be assured that He is there with us, directing our paths through it or delivering us out of it. It is because of these truths that every storm can be a perfect storm. It’s okay to be a storm chaser. Amen.
