I want to tell you something about myself: I love original oil paintings! They don't have to be painted by anyone special or even be expensive, but I am just fascinated by the talent of the people who do that kind of art. There are several reasons that I do not try that kind of artistic painting. One is, I can’t find a type of canvas that has an “undo” button on it, and another is, I am having difficulty finding a paint brush with a “delete paint stroke” key built into it.
Oh, well... onto my story.
One time an artist, who was a member of the church where I was youth pastor, said that she had an oil painting that she had painted especially for me. I was really excited as I looked forward to having an original oil painting hung in our house! However, when I saw the picture, some of my excitement was dampened. The artist did a great job of the painting... but it was the scene that did not impress me. The painting was of an oceanside landscape. In the middle of the canvas, there was a scraggly tree looking worn and beaten. The ocean seemed angry and troubled as its waves assaulted the big craggy rocks on the seashore. Black clouds were appearing to break up in the sky, and, to the left of the picture were a few rays of light bringing forth the touches of a rainbow.
I was hoping for some bright, cheery scene with lots of blue and sunshine….something that would be uplifting and fun to look at.
The painting she had for me was not what I had expected.
Since that time, I have had many opportunities to reflect on this painting and I feel that it has so accurately described my journey in life and ministry. Through all the troubles, pain, and dark moments, God's promises (the rainbow) have always watched over my life and been there to comfort me. No matter how dark and scary the scene is, He always reminds me of His promises when I am listening closely.
The book of Job has inched its way upward to becoming one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Although I have read and studied this book over the years, last week I saw something in it that I had never seen before. (The Bible is like that, you know.) In chapter 37, Elihu, (one of Job's friends) is speaking wrongfully (as well-meaning friends sometimes do) and eloquently taking Job to task about his apparently poor relationship with God.
Suddenly, a thunderstorm begins to move in on the scene. (I know this because of what the Scripture says later.) Elihu makes great literary analogies using words like roar, rumbling, lightning, thunder, rain showers, water, and clouds throughout the chapter. It is evident that there is a storm going on around them. And, as we know by the testimony of many chapters before this scene, there is also a storm going on in Job's heart and mind.
Job feels forsaken by God (chapter 23), most of his family is gone, his friends are making him miserable (as friends sometimes do), and the storm is raging outside. Also, the storm on the inside of his heart and mind was relentless in its fury.
Then, it happens. The greatest thing of all in the story….
Job 38:1 NIV
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm.
It was in the storm that God chose to speak to Job in order to ultimately bring him peace and comfort. God was always there through Job’s whole ordeal, but He chose the storm from which to speak to Him.
In this chapter, and forward, God shows things to Job that no other recorded Scripture, up till now, had ever listed. God shows Himself to Job in such a special way that otherwise could not have been, unless Job was also in the storm. This is important to realize. God’s presence in the storm brings it up to an entirely different level of meaning; both the natural storm and Job’s personal storm were allowed by God and were being used just as He had planned.
I remember a time that I had some distress (similar to Job’s in chapter 23) while going through my own storm during a difficult time of ministry. I was praying, reading, and looking for God's help while a storm raged on the inside of my heart. The ugly black clouds of fear, doubt, and hurt engulfed my whole being.
Drastic changes had come into my life under circumstances which I could not control. Someone whom I counted as a friend in ministry (a pastor) had helped to make my situation by choices that he had made. And yet, God used the situation to show Himself to me in such a special way that I could never have known otherwise.
For months I had no job, no direction, and a heart crushed more than you would care to know. As I prayed, the Lord led me to a special place on the top of a mountain that was close by to where I was living.
For days, weeks, and months I would go and spend hours before the Lord with my heart crying out to Him. The storm in my heart was raging furiously all the time, and I could not grasp what He was doing or even where He was in my life. Then the Lord led me to Job 23 and, I began to identify with the feelings and emotions that I was reading.
Job 23:2-9 NIV
2 "Even today my complaint is bitter; His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.
3 If only I knew where to find Him; if only I could go to His dwelling!
4 I would state my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would find out what He would answer me, and consider what He would say.
6 Would He oppose me with great power? No, He would not press charges against me.
7 There an upright man could present his case before Him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
8 "But if I go to the east, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him.
9 When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him.
In this story, Job could not understand why he could not connect with God. I could see, as I read the words of Scripture, how that torrents of emotions were raging in his heart. Fear, feelings of abandonment, and hurt welled up and covered him like a giant wave in the ocean.
I felt like I was drowning in the same emotions……… then God spoke to my heart in my storm.
As I read the verses in Job 23, I came upon one that struck me profoundly.
Job 23:10 NIV
But He knows the way that I take…..
I could read no further…..
It seemed as if the Lord said to me, “Dan, it is not important that you cannot find Me right now. What is important is that I know where you are.”
A flood of weeping and gratefulness came over me at that moment. Out of my storm the Lord gave me this assurance and a greater understanding of things that I could not have learned any other way except by being in the storm with Him. This remains a precious moment in my life…..it resembled the scene in the oil painting given to me….. the few rays of light breaking through the dark angry clouds and bringing forth the touches of a rainbow.
God spoke to my heart out of my storm…..
In another time and place we see Jesus doing the same thing; comforting his children during a storm.
Matthew 8:23-26 NIV
23 Then He got into the boat and his disciples followed Him.
24 Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
25 The disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26 He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
I get the idea that the Lord knows how to handle a storm no matter when or how they burst forth on His children.
In this next passage, the Apostle Paul is in a literal storm.
Acts 27:18-25 NIV
18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.
19 On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands.
20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.
22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.
23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me
24 and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.'
25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me.
What about the storms in the lives of others throughout history? Look at these verses from scripture…..
Hebrews 11:36-39 NIV
36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.
37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated--
38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith……..
See any storms here? Yea, more than most of us have ever had.
A great deal of frustration comes to us when we feel that the Lord ought to just show up when we think that He should and then do what we think He ought to do to fix the whole situation during a storm. Remember, He is in control... we are not. The work that He is doing in us is so magnificent that He would not dare to lower Himself to do it our way. He loves us way too much to do things according to what we think should be done.
Storms come and storms go, but they are always with us.
Everyone at sometime has felt abandoned and alone…but we never are. When we experience God in the storms, the storm takes on an entirely different meaning. When Jesus’ presence is recognized in the storm, it fundamentally changes that storm into an encounter with Him that enhances our lives in so many ways.
You may be asking, “But Dan, what about the times when we don’t hear Him speak in the storm”? When that happens, He always speaks from His Word:
Romans 8:28 NIV
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him…….
….and then our actions in the storm are called faith.
What storm is going on in your life right now?
Life's storms are scary and difficult, but the Lord is always with us in them. He lives in us and is never unaware of our pain and hurt.
In His way, and in His time, He speaks to us out of the storm.
Psalms 107:29 NIV
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
Dan
P.S—if you have an internet connection you may want to check out this link.
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Without the storms and trials, how would we ever know the loving touch of the Father? It's funny how that works. There would be no kissed boo-boos if there were no skinned knees.
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