Life’s experiences, or as I will call them, landscapes of life, are the places God can reveal aspects of his nature and glory. Our landscapes can range from mountaintop miracles to slogging through the muck. Most of the time, we experience something in between those extremes. Paul expressed it this way:
I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself (Philippians 3:10).
Throughout Scripture, God promises to always be with us in every landscape we face. The Psalmist writes, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me” (Psalm 139:7-10)
My favorite “go-to” promise for God’s presence is, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deut. 31:8). You probably have similar “go to” verses. With God’s presence guaranteed, our question is not “Will God show up?” but “How will he show up?” The point is the promise of God’s presence forms the foundation for discovering how God will show up in the various landscapes of our lives. When we anticipate the presence of God, we can learn to be content in whatever topography we are experiencing and for however long God decides for us to be there.
Over the following several blogs, I want to look at various landscapes we may encounter along our life journey of faith. Each can provide a unique opportunity for God to show up, meet our needs, and reveal various aspects of his nature. Each landscape will allow us to move from theory to experience: from God is… to God is my… We will see his presence even in unexpected ways as we use the lens of faith and perhaps some CSI skills.
The Storm
First, I want to consider discovering God in the storm. Nature’s storms, whether hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, dust storms, or just plain old rain storms, are a common part of life. When it comes to storms, we know they will come, and we cannot control them.
Storms are those events in life where circumstances seem overwhelming. Adversity, conflict, pressure, and disappointment can come in a wave that disrupts our calm, comfortable, ordinary everyday routine. We may feel like our life is under attack in our finances, health, or relationships. What makes it feel like a storm is that we cannot control it when it comes.
Storms affect
Since life’s storms are out of our control, we find them physically and emotionally threatening. When the wind and waves of the storm toss around our “boat,” we can feel vulnerable, overwhelmed, helpless, exposed, and defenseless.
The twelve disciples faced storms as they were following Jesus. On one occasion, he told them to get in their boat and said, “Let us go to the other side.” Their destination was the area of the Garasenes along the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee.
When a sudden storm comes up, fear takes over, and when the disciples find Jesus asleep, they panic. They cry, “Jesus don’t you care?” (Mark 4:35-41). There have been times when I have had a similar response. More than once, when a storm hit my life, I initially wondered if Jesus was “asleep.”
After Jesus wakes up and calms the storm, he asks several penetrating questions. “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” Jesus was looking for a different response to the storm than he got. The disciple’s faith response could have been based on two things. One was his promise when he said, “Let us go to the other side.” He did not say, “Let’s go out on the Sea and drown.” Secondly, they had his presence. Similarly, when we feel vulnerable in a storm, we can put our faith in the promises of God and his character.
Fanny Crosby is one of the most prolific songwriters of our time, having written over 8,000 songs and hymns. They include hymns like Blessed Assurance, Pass Me Not O Blessed Savior, To God be the Glory, and He Hideth My Soul. She accomplished all this despite becoming blind when she was only six weeks old.
Later in her life, she wrote, “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank Him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”
Fanny accepted this lifelong “storm” as a blessing because she discovered God’s touch through it. She has encouraged believers for over a millennium by putting that knowledge into songs. The storm provides a place to discover God as our anchor, harbor, and shelter.
Storm prep
Since we cannot eliminate storms from our life, we would be wise to prepare for them. Jesus told of two houses that faced the inevitable storms of life (Matthew 7: 24-27). The stability of the house depended on the foundation. The solid foundation in the parable was built upon hearing and doing his word. Nothing fancy or complex … just daily listening to what God says through his word and acting on it. Little by little, brick by brick, the foundation is laid in the secret place of our hearts. Then when the inevitable storms come, our house will stand. But unfortunately, it is too late to start laying the foundation once the storms hit.
When King Nebuchadnezzar put the three Hebrew men into his fiery furnace, they demonstrated their foundation through their response. This was not their “first rodeo,” as the saying goes. Captured, their homes destroyed, taken into exile, and forced into the king’s service, they found that every storm along the way was an opportunity to see the hand of God. Now, in the furnace, they could say with complete peace, “God is able to deliver, but if not…” Their response to the king was that their God could just as easily deliver them out of the fire or through it. Either way, they had learned that God would show up.
Storm Benefits
God uses storms to show us various aspects of his nature and complete the work of transforming us into his image-bearers. Here are four ways God can use a storm to move us from God is … to God is my……
- Focus our lives (God is my Anchor)
Storms have a way of forcing us to simplify our lives, focusing on the essentials of life while stripping away the clutter and distractions. Years ago, an unexpected storm came up while crossing a large lake on a fishing trip with my dad in Canada’s boundary waters. The sky went from an azure blue to a menacing gray/black. The lake went from glass-like smooth to whitecaps in just a few minutes. Alone on the lake in our 17-foot aluminum canoe, life got simple. We were not thinking about our plans for next week, not even what we were cooking for dinner that night. We had only two thoughts: keep the canoe’s bow pointed into the waves and paddle like crazy! All my complex life issues (family, work, relational challenges, and long-range plans) shrunk to a few things: Dad, me, and an aluminum boat.
Life storms can help us refocus on what is ultimately important … ultimately essential. Even forward progress is eliminated. A sailing ship in a storm takes down its sails and puts out the sea anchor. Progress to its destination is put on hold until the storm passes.
• Test our faith (God is my Proctor)
Each storm we face tests our faith in our confidence in the promises and character of God. They can serve as an exam in our course of faith. The disciples got a D on their exam in the story above. Not surprisingly, this was early in their training. They would do better later…well, not always! Our faith tests are also faith builders. Each storm in which we discover the touch of God increases our faith. That is why in a storm, Scripture tells us to remember how God has shown up in the past.
Storms strip away our self-confidence and the illusion that we are in control. When our security and safety are threatened, we are forced to seek God as our refuge, our cleft in the rock. No matter how many storms we weather, each new one tests, deepens, and strengthens our faith – if we let it.
• Guide our journey (God is my Guide)
Jonah needed a course correction as he fled from God’s presence to avoid his mission to the Ninevites. Headed in the wrong direction, God used a storm (and a fish) to turn him around. God can use storms to guide and correct us, especially when we are not paying attention.
On his way to Rome, Paul took a detour via Malta when his ship hit a storm. Shipwrecked and left floating on various debris from the ship, the Bible gives a typical understatement, “and so it happened they were all brought safely to land.” For the next three months, Paul had a ministry on the island that was not in his original plan. Storms take us to places we would not have chosen to go, but we have unexpected opportunities to live out the gospel once we are there.
- Develop fruitfulness (God is my Gardner)
In January 2005, an ice storm hit Kansas City, the costliest in Kansas history. During the several days of constant rain and ice, branches broke off our trees with the crack of rifle shots. When it was over, tree limbs were in piles across our yard. Our favorite maple tree looked devastated. But amazingly, after a few years, it recovered, filled in, and looked better than ever.
Jesus said we are like the branches of a grapevine that need pruning occasionally. Sometimes, our heavenly Father uses the storms of life to prune us for greater fruitfulness (John 15).
We need to remember that God delights in being discovered. Life storms allow him to show up in new ways if we look through the lens of faith.
For Reflection:
1. Think back to a stormy period of your life. What were your questions? How did God show up?
2. In what ways are you preparing for the storms yet to come?