Professor Sandy

It is hard not to be thinking of the storm we have just been through with Hurricane Sandy. Listen to the wind, look out your window, turn on your TV and there is no escaping it !  Yet God was gracious to us, it certainly could’ve been much much worse !!   Going through Job recently I was reminded of an interesting passage in regards to weather conditions such as calamitous events like hurricanes: “And the Lord said unto Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in thy power, only upon himself put not forth thine hand.’  So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. . . While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, ‘The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep. . . And behold there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped to tell thee.” (Job 1:12-19).

We call storms, at times, “acts of God”.  They do tend to put folks’ attention more on the Lord. People pray for safety, their thoughts are more upon Him and fearing for one’s life becomes much more a concern in such events.  Often He uses such disturbances to get our minds more spiritually focused.  But are they truly all acts of God?   What we glean from this passage is that there was a storm that killed Job’s children yet it was NOT an act of God, at least directly.  Satan was permitted (keep this in mind) to, by means of a storm, trouble God’s servant.  God did not initiate the tragedy, though He did allow it and in time we see how it turned out actually for great good !

This storm we’ve just been through was huge in it’s size and power, yet God graciously spared millions of people from death and even more devastation than we could’ve had.   Still, why not let it do what God always intends life’s trials to do, namely to better us, to draw us closer to Him, to see Him even through the storms of life whether He initiates them or not. Because He always permits them for great good in your life. Even if you were not impacted directly by living in this storm’s path, what has this storm taught you? How can it draw you closer to Him? Or, cause you to see Him better and love Him more?

I know I was reminded of this: God is incredibly powerful and yet incredibly gracious !    Next time you think “I can’t” to something God says you can, remember His power.  Next time you think “I don’t deserve” or “They don’t deserve”, remember His grace !   Storms always teach us if we look for the lessons through spiritual eyes !!