Storms

Have you ever found yourself caught in the midst of a storm? It can be a downright terrifying experience. Even if you have shelter, storms can be scary. But when you find yourself in a situation without shelter, being caught in a storm can be really scary.

The day that we were driving up to vicarage, we hit a huge storm as we turned into Iowa. We were driving north on Interstate 29. Just as we were passing by Omaha, we looked out the windows to the West and saw a beautiful sun-shinning day. However, to the East it was pitch black. I turned on the radio and heard tornado warnings going on all over the place. Only we didn’t know where we were. We didn’t know which county we were in. As we drove and the road turned into the storm, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the midst of thunder, lightening, hail and a torrential downpour. We finally pulled over at a rest stop to wait it out. It was scary.

Have you ever found yourself caught in the midst of a storm? Jonah, and his fellow ship-mates have found themselves in the midst of a great storm. It was so great that their ship was threatening to break up. Things are pretty scary. But where is Jonah? He is sound asleep in the bottom of the boat.

You see this storm is not just the perfect combination of fronts and air flow, pressure and all that good stuff. But this storm is from the Lord. Sometimes God sends a storm to do his work and to get his message across.

This isn’t all that odd. A look throughout the scriptures will reveal that God sometimes uses storms to display is splendor. Job is contacted by the Lord out of a storm wind. Elijah hears a mighty wind just before God speaks to him in a still small voice. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on Pentecost, the sound that was made was like a rushing wind.

As strange as it may sound, God’s working through this storm is a display of his grace and mercy. This is because Jonah is running away from God. He is turning his back on him and ignoring him. God has called Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh, and Jonah doesn’t want to go. So he runs away.

But it’s not really a good idea to turn your back on God, and instead of punishing him or striking him down, God sends this storm to snap Jonah out of it. So where is Jonah? He is sound asleep in the bottom of the boat. He is oblivious to all that is going on around him. You could say he is sound asleep in his sin, in his rebellion. This sleep is so deep that he is unaware of the storm going on outside. He is unaware of God’s action.

Notice the sailors and their reaction. They demonstrate some amazing self-restraint. They are concerned for the safety and welfare of Jonah. They show reverence toward Jonah’s God. Isn’t it interesting to see them reacting in the ways that Jonah should be, and how that contrast exists here? Jonah is acting like the rebellious people he does not want to go preach to. He is ignoring God. And the sailors are acting more like you would expect a child of God to act.

Where do you find yourself on the proverbial boat when you are in the midst of the storms of life? Do you relate more to the sailors, or do you find yourself feeling more like Jonah? Let’s face it; the storms that life can throw at us can be more devastating than ten tornados. The trials and challenges that come at us, or our families, because we live in a world that is broken and twisted by sin are so small matter. As we struggle with injustice, death, sickness, brokenness, addiction, we find that these storms can rage hard, and can really ware us down.

So how do we respond when we find ourselves in the midst of the storms of life? Now, I don’t know about you, but sometimes, when I find myself in those kinds of situations, I just want to run. I want to hide. I want to get away from it all. I find myself acting more like Jonah, who just wants to go and sleep it off in the bottom of the boat. Leave me alone. Don’t bother me.

But you know what? You can’t really escape from God’s presence. You can’t hide from his call. You can’t sleep through his action and work in your life. And thank God. Because God in his grace, does not allow us to ever get so far from him that there is no turning back. He will not allow our own stubbornness to keep us from him. He will not allow our own doubts, or questions, or struggles, or suffering to be enough to keep us from him. His love for us is so much that he will do whatever it takes to get through to us, even in spite of ourselves.

I am not saying that every time we find ourselves in the midst of a storm of life that it is because God is trying to snap us out of something. That may be the case some of the time, but not every time. I would not recommend that every time you find yourself in one of life’s storms that you think that you are there because you are acting like Jonah and ignoring God.

Instead, while those storms may not be very pleasant to endure, while they are not much fun to weather, God can, and indeed does work through them. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Not hardship, not peril, not danger, not even death can come between us, and the love that God has for us. And while we can often find ourselves faced with bad or hard things, God can and does work through them for our good. This does not mean that he wanted those things to happen to us, but what it does mean is that they can’t stop God and the work that he is doing in our lives.

You see, God is in the business of saving, healing and restoring his creation. God loves his creation. God is in the business of life. He gives us life in Jesus. And his love for us is greater than we could ever understand or comprehend. God’s love for you and me is not based on what we do. The value that we have in the eyes of God is not based on the contributions that we make to God’s work in the world. Rather, we have value and worth, because God decided, long before we were born, that we were worth dying for. And that is exactly what he did.

God became a human being, the man Christ Jesus. He is our savior. He is the one who willingly paid the price for our sins on the cross. He determined that that price for us was worth it. And he paid it. Not because of what we do for him, but because he simply loves us. Having loved us, and died for us, God makes us his own in the waters of baptism. As his dearly loved daughters and sons we live our lives in relationship with him. As his dearly loved sons and daughters we live as his people in the world, making known and showing his love, grace, and mercy to others.

Living life in this relationship with our God is the only way to live. We don’t always know why God allows the storms to rage in our lives that are raging. We cannot always understand why we have to see, and endure the storms that this life can throw at us.

Have you ever found yourself caught in the midst of a storm? It can be a scary experience, but not one that we ever have to endure alone; and not one that is beyond God’s ability to work. The God who calmed the storm that Jonah’s shipmates found themselves in, is the same God who calmed the sea when the disciples were in their storm. He is the same God who calmed the storms of sin, death and evil through his death and resurrection. He is the same God that can and does work through and in spite of the storms that we find ourselves in now.

May you feel his presence. Delight in his love for you. Be renewed in your serving and life. And always find in him peace in the midst of the storm. Now and always. Amen.