When God Spoke He Stirred Up A Storm

One of the most challenging questions my wilderness students ask me is, “Do you expect more rain today?”

I look up at the clouds, at the leaves, at the surface of the water, at the birds…

I make observations, but in the end I always say the same thing:

“We’ll need strong wind in order for the weather to change.”

But maybe the strong wind just does not blow.

Maybe the weather stays the same and stays the same and stays the same, like those three weeks of continuous rain in the southern Appalachians. Grey sky, and mud, and soggy, stinky socks, and your friends giving up on their dreams because they’d slipped on a wet lichen-covered rock and sprained something, or because the mental challenge of endless struggle was just too hard.

Day after day, you hope, and wonder, “When will the sun ever shine again?”

Maybe the wind does blow.

Maybe the wind begins to howl so strongly that it snaps the island palm trees right in half, zaps a northern town into a deep freeze or makes it impossible to paddle your canoe across the lake.

This visible world is jam-packed with examples meant to teach us about the unseen world, you know.

Here is what my limited observations of meteorology have taught me about the Kingdom: When the winds of change from an invisible Kingdom meet the stationary waters and forests of the visible world, there is bound to be a violent change of weather! Something new is on its way!

Some of us set sail upon the sea to faraway ports,
transporting our goods from ship to shore.
We were witnesses of God’s power out in the ocean deep;
we saw breathtaking wonders upon the high seas!
When God spoke he stirred up a storm,
lifting high the waves with hurricane winds.
Ships were tossed by swelling sea, rising to the sky,
then dropping down to the depths,
reeling like drunkards, spinning like tops,
everyone at their wits’ end until even sailors despaired of life,
cringing in terror.
Then we cried out, “Lord, help us! Rescue us!” And he did!
God stilled the storm, calmed the waves,
and he hushed the hurricane winds to only a whisper.
We were so relieved, so glad as he guided us
safely to harbor in a quiet haven.

Psalm 107, TPT

Hey Captain, you remember, don’t you, that your Creator SPOKE all of creation into existence.

Stop for a minute and think of all the times he spoke, right on down through history. Think of what happened when he spoke!

Nations rose or fell.

Living people were killed; dead people were raised to life!

Proud rulers were brought low; clueless leaders were given power!

When he spoke, people wanted to kill him.

When he spoke, everything that had been know became history, and a new reality began for anyone who would choose to see it and believe it!

Brave Captain, is your cargo ship engulfed in a churning storm? Let’s celebrate! You can be sure that if there is a storm, God is speaking.

God is speaking. His words are blowing in a change of weather. His words are colliding with the current weather in your visible world–Yes, the coming change holds rich treasure for you! I know you can feel that!

And you know, don’t you, that in the unseen world, your voyage is guaranteed to end with a safe, perfectly orchestrated landing on the shore you always have been steering towards.

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