A Storm on the Horizon

On Monday night, I experienced my first real taste of just how bad the weather can get in the States. I've been here during bad thunderstorms, but I have never seen anything like what rolled through on Monday night. Absolutely wild storms came rushing through the Chicago/NW Indiana area, creating three tornadoes. One of said tornadoes touched down about 10 minutes from our front door. Flights were grounded, power was cut out and, in some areas, homes were left in tatters.

It was scary.

Watching the lightning and listening to the booming thunder is a frightening experience, but it is also a humbling one. Witnessing this display of the sheer power of nature really got me thinking about our time on this planet. We can predict weather and we can prepare for it, but the one thing we cannot do is prevent it. We are completely subject to its mercy, of which it has none. It is an uncontrollable, unstoppable force that has the potential to ravage everything we spent so many years to create. It takes homes, communities, lives with no remorse.

Where's the humility in that, you might ask?

Right here:

Matthew 8:23-27 (New International Version)

Jesus Calms the Storm

23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"

26He 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.

27The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

Even in the midst of the wildest storm, we can find comfort in the awe-inspiring power of God and he can bring peace to the most ferocious places. The storms, tornadoes and natural disasters of all degrees of magnitude will continue on this planet, but God's love reaches beyond our circumstances and to our very core.

1 John 4:18 (New International Version)

18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

How often do we hear yet another TV evangelist claim that a natural disaster, from Hurricane Katrina to the 2006 tsunami in Sri Lanka, is God's judgement visited upon us? I happen to believe the very opposite. I don't see God's judgement, but God's loving arms. Not in the natural disaster itself, but in the thousands who flock from across the globe to help the needy. The millions who cry out to both God and government for help.

In these times, we truly see who we were meant to be.

We see a people cast aside their differences and stand united.

We see a God who reaches into lives and calms the storms of fear that rage in our hearts.

We see love conquer all.