Isaiah 41: 10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
A severe weather warning was issued for our area last night. The sky was clear before dark, there was a gentle breeze and conditions appeared peaceful and non-eventful. About dark-thirty the wind picked up and a few clouds began to creep over the western horizon.
The Bearcat and I sat on the front porch and as it became totally dark, a few instances of electrons going to ground or another cloud (lightning) began to flash in the north western sky.
As the flashes came closer, the atmosphere slamming together where the lightning burned out the air (thunder) became louder. Gradually the wind became more intense and it became obvious the storm was moving in our direction.
Bear tried to remain calm but his history told me that would not last. As we began to hear the far thunder, he inched closer to my rocking chair and eventually found his way to my lap.
As the clouds moved quickly in our direction, the light show became constant and a laser technician could not have produced a more beautiful scene.
I could feel Bear inch closer and hunker down. He did want to appear to panic so he remained quiet. Occasionally he would look me in the face as if to ask, “When are we going to stop this nonsense and go in the house?”
We had a little cat talk and I told him we would go in before the storm starts. He didn’t seem satisfied with my explanation but kept his cool. A rubbing behind his ears gave him a sense of security, I think.
Finally the rain began and as per his request, we went in. The Bearcat found a dining room chair and settled in for the night. He was happy to be inside away from the storm. About eleven-thirty deciding my eyes could not remain open any longer, I went to sleep.
About two a.m., I awoke. The storm had moved on through and Bear was by the back door ready to go outside for his nocturnal exploring expedition. At times he thinks he’s human but at that point in time he was a full-blooded cat. His bravado had returned and the “no-fear” attitude once again was in his eyes.
As I do many nights, the decision to sit on the porch and observe the visible galaxy was made. I walked out into the driveway and just stood there looking up at God’s amazing display of celestial bodies, hundreds of light years distant. To experience God is an individual thing. Mine is to gaze into a clear night sky and listen to the frogs down on the pond and the coyotes singing over by the creek.
We are at an elevation here of about five-hundred feet above sea level. I had never seen such a clear night and the stars brighter except at much higher elevations and areas far removed from the ambient light of towns and cities.
The wind and rain had washed the atmosphere clean of dust, smoke and other pollutants. The clarity of the air was almost too clean to fathom after the dust of the harvesting of wheat and the Canadian forest fire smoke that had invaded the molecules of oxygen we had available the last few weeks.
We’ve often heard the words, “the calm before the storm,” but, “the calm after the storm” is much more appropriate in some cases.
Presenting a sermon on the story of Joseph beginning in Genesis 37, I once said to a congregation, “If you’ve never had any troubles or problems in your life, you may as well leave now because I have nothing for you today.”
Knowing full well, no person has ever lived that did not have troubles in their lives, I felt safe that no one would leave. They did not!
Problems with health, finances, spouse, children, jobs and the list can go on forever; happen to all of us. No one is exempt and no one ever told us life would be perfect and without consequences.
Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The peace of God truly does pass all understanding. The connections we have to our Creator (Colossians 1: 16) are a precious gift to us by Him. It is so amazing the peacefulness that can exist between a mere human and the Creator God of the universe.
Many of us have found, when these life situations become bigger than we can handle, God can handle them. From a practical and a spiritual standpoint it is unwise to wait until these get so far out-of-hand. God wants to be our sustainer and helper no matter how large or how small the problem may be.
We humans want to handle our own problems and wait, at times, until they are far out of our control. This is not wise and is not what our Creator wants. 1 Peter 5: 6-7 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.”
Charles Caleb Colton said, “Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced in the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm.” Those extremes in our lives that seem so devastating may create in us our greatest strength but only God can bring us to a state of peace and rest.
We’ve heard said, “Anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I’m not sure I agree with that but those things certainly make us smarter. We don’t have to touch a hot iron but one time.
Giving the storms in life to our God and Savior (John 10: 30) is a demonstration of discipline; not weakness. We often confuse the two and suffer for our misunderstanding.
The scripture teaches He was willing to offer Himself as a living sacrifice for the sins of the world. Why would we not think He is capable of handling our problems?
Belief through faith may be difficult for some but so was the sacrifice made by Jesus for all mankind. His resurrection is the promise of our resurrection for those that believe: Christ Jesus crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected. Believing in Him calms the storms we face and He is capable!
The clearest day or night we will ever see may be after a storm in our lives. After the winds lay and the clouds pass, we can have a clearer view of our Creator like never before.
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary, from Fredonia, Kentucky. A part of the Bible Connection series.