Weather or Not

I don't like storms. I never have. It's not that I'm necessarily afraid, they just make me uneasy. Perhaps on the verge of fear. Either way, I could live without them. I have friends who find them fascinating and love them. I find them depressing. Not long ago I was leaving Wal-Mart when the clerk told me to try and stay dry. As usual I hadn't given the forecast a second glance. I kind of figure it's going to do what it's going to do, and so I'll just look out the window before I go. But anyhow, as I got out of my car to walk into the house, the wind suddenly began to pick up and the gusts became great. I carried my stuff in and could hear the wind still howling outside. It wasn't a big storm, but it was enough to remind me of how strong a storm can be.

I was tired, and since I didn't want to listen to the wind and rain anyway, I took a nap. When I awoke hours later, I looked up only to find the sun streaming through my bedroom curtains. The storm was over. It didn't last forever, although it seemed like it might in Luke chapter 8.

22One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23As they sailed, he fell asleep. A storm came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25"Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

I've heard or read that section of Scripture dozens of times, but I never noticed that Jesus was not a light sleeper. Here it is the wind is rocking the boat back and forth, water is pouring onto the deck from the sea and the sky, and yet Christ is still sound asleep. I love that. Meanwhile, it's clear that the twelve men he's taken to train are freaking out, probably yelling at one another what they should do and not agreeing at all. Finally, they go and wake Jesus up...perhaps to break a tie. Why they bothered to wake him up isn't really clear to me. By the end of the passage, it's obvious that they didn't believe that He was capable of such things as commanding the winds and the waves. Maybe they blamed Him for their predicament and were frustrated that He seemed oblivious to it.

I love what Jesus asks them: “Where is your faith?” So, why were the disciples so afraid? They forgot who was with them. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, co-author of creation was on their sinking ship. But while we're talking about a literal storm, it still has application for the storms of our lives. Just look at Job...God has given Him over to Satan to freely test His faith. The only stipulation is that the fallen former angel cannot kill the man. That doesn't exactly provide a great amount of protection in my opinion. This man who God has called righteous begins to question why He is losing his wife, his family, his friends—why His possessions are being taken from Him. What has he done to deserve this? Then we come to chapter 38 of the book that bears his name:

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-
7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels [a] shouted for joy?
8 "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?

12 "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
16 "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death ?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

I find it interesting that God chose to answer Job out of a storm. God makes it clear that He will be the One asking questions. He points out although Job has great wisdom and understanding, He still has no clue as to the greatness of God. But my favorite is that after God goes through all of this, in verse 18 He asks a rhetorical question...'Tell me if you know all this?' He knows that Job has no answer.

It is the nature the law that we are punished for what we do wrong. It is what man has come to expect. There must be a reason; and yet the explanation given in Job is basically a surefire bet between God and his former right hand man. Satan asks God what reason Job has to not be faithful to him, saying that a hedge of protection is around him. Job has no reason to doubt or disbelieve. So, knowing the outcome God agrees to allow Satan to try his hand at getting Job to curse God to His face.

Another thing I find it interesting that with all his years of learning, it is a young man who comes and challenges Job's way of thinking just a few chapters before.

1 Then Elihu said:
2 "Do you think this is just? You say, 'I will be cleared by God.'
3 Yet you ask him, 'What profit is it to me, and what do I gain by not sinning?'

Isn't that just like us? We want to claim God's name when we believe it will benefit us and He will follow through with our requests and demands, and yet if it seems as though He's unaware or not there we begin to question why we do this whole Christianity thing. We ask, “What it's worth to us?” When we should be anwering with this: “He is worthy.” His worth does not depend on us, but our worth does depend on Him. Elihu points out that God does not get anything from us. It is us who receive from Him. Man's righteousness or evil does not change who God is.

6 If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of men.

Job felt as though the storm would never end; but when it did, he prayed this to the Lord:

3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know... 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

Like the disciples we often believe that God is unaware or just doesn't care about what is happening. The storm is raging all around us, and it's as though He's sound asleep. We plead with Him to wake up and yet for us, He doesn't calm the wind and the waves. We take that to mean that He hasn't heard us. Yet Exodus is all the evidence we need for He told Moses that He had seen the misery of His people and heard their cries for deliverance. Keep in mind they'd been slaves for 400 years! God doesn't always act immediately. We may not understand why at the time. But I've found in my own life that He will often allow me a glimpse into His glory. I sometimes see why He allowed something to be. It's in those times that I realize my understanding is elementary.

Fear is one of our greatest enemies; for our submission to it is an indication that we do not believe in the greatness of our God. So, how will you react in the midst of the storm? Like the disciples? They were afraid for their lives, uncertain of the outcome, and had completely abandoned their faith. Psalm 23 is one of the most famous passages in all of the Bible. David wrote that even in the Valley of the Shadow of Death he would fear no evil. Why? Because he knew that God was with him. He remembered and recognized who God was and who He still is today and will be throughout all eternity. That is what the disciples had forgotten.

Not long ago I was thinking back on a scene that I haven't forgotten from about two years ago when our fledgling satellite campus was just starting out in a school in Van Buren. Our now worship pastor's daughter was standing on stage, and he stretched out his arms and called to her to jump. Without hesitation she plunged from the stage into the safety of his arms. I remember thinking what a great dad he was and the bond he and she must have. But then I stopped and thought...Why did she jump? Why was she so certain that he would catch her? The simple answer is because she had faith in her father.

Do you have faith? Do you believe that God will catch you? That this storm that you're in right now will not last forever. We cannot change the forecast of the weather anymore than we can affect the forecast of the storms in our lives. But what we can do is choose how we will react in the midst of them. I well remember something that Louie Giglio, a well-known speaker, author, and founder of the college Passion movement said about Job. Louie said that what he learned was this...to simply say: 'This is a test. Am I passing it?' This is a test. Am I passing it?
Somehow that changes my entire perspective of the situation. It becomes less about me and more about God's glory. The whole point of Job's test was that Satan tried to prove that this righteous man would spit in God's face. And although he struggled and questioned, Job never did deny God. The storm didn't make sense to him at the time. But later it did. Several times the psalmist refers to God as his strength, his stronghold, his refuge in times of trouble.

You will not be able to calm the wind and the waves; but know that you serve a God who can. Do not forget that He is never far from you. He sees what is happening and is well aware of your circumstance. Be faithful, stand strong; pass the test. The storm will end—the question is, will you be found faithful? James says the testing of our faith develops perserverence. He says that those who doubt are like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. Basically, a storm is a disturbance of the normal condition of the atmosphere manifesting itself by winds of unusual force or direction. In the end, I think we all want to come out of the storm perhaps battered and bruised but better and stronger in our faith.

The disciples blamed Jesus for their predicament and were incredulous at the fact that He was slow to act. Job questioned why he even had faith if he wasn't going to benefit from it. Where was God in their storms? But David, the man after God's own heart, said that he would not be afraid, because 'You are with me. Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.' We not only can rest assured that God is with us, but that He will comfort us during these times of trouble.
I won't deny that storms can do serious damage; and we may not be doubly blessed as Job was in the end. But I always believe that there is purpose in our pain, because I've seen what God has done in my own life. So I encourage you to weather the storm.

One of my favorite bands, Casting Crowns sings that 'I will praise You in this storm'. They recognize that their help comes from the Lord. Do not forget what He has done. Do not forget that you are not here for your comfort or your glory. You are here to tell His story. And to do that, sometimes we have to weather the storm. How we do that will serve as a witness to the world that there is a God.