We have lived in several different states and obviously, one of the big differences state to state, is the weather. Colorado has its blizzards, Alabama has its tornadoes (and a hurricane while we lived there) but no one does a good thunderstorm like Michigan!
Michigan is surrounded by three of the Great Lakes. The wind and rain form over these huge lakes, just like over the ocean, and it can really rock and roll.
Our family has been known to gather downstairs in the middle of the night - with candle light because the power's out - during these storms and look at each other wide-eyed while the world outside crashes and booms and seemingly explodes.
I know some people are really frightened by these storms and I get it. While living in Virginia several years ago, my daughter, Laura, and I were sitting in our sun room during a stormy Sunday afternoon when lightening hit a tree in our yard.
We had a row of pines along our property line, which was only about 30' away. I saw the tree flash and there was deafening BOOM and the whole house shook. The lightening had traveled down the tree in a spin and thrown strips of bark 20' away from the tree!
But one morning, several years ago, I was up before dawn, worshiping God during a thunderstorm. And the Lord spoke to me.
The Word tells us in 1 John that Jesus is LIGHT. In the book of John it also tells us that Jesus, the WORD, became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is "LIGHT" and "SOUND".
Colossians 1:15-17 says,
"He is the image of the invisible god, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Before Jesus became a man, He was at creation with God. He was The Word of God with which God spoke the world into being.
Some people believe that God brings the storms in our lives. I don't. Not if we're walking in integrity. If we've made a mistake, we repent. If God had brought the storm when Jesus and the disciples were in the boat, Jesus would not have calmed the storm. He only did what He saw the Father doing. And He lived as an example to us of what we are able to do in the Spirit - calm the storm.
Job 37:1-5 says,
"At this also my heart trembles,And leaps from its place."Listen closely to the thunder of His voice,And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth."Under the whole heaven He lets it loose,And His lightning to the ends of the earth."After it, a voice roars;He thunders with His majestic voice,And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard."God thunders with His voice wondrously,Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.
Psalms 104:1-9
Bless the Lord, O my soul!O Lord my God, You are very great;You are clothed with splendor and majesty,Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak,Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;He makes the clouds His chariot;He walks upon the wings of the wind;He makes the winds His messengers,Flaming fire His ministers.He established the earth upon its foundations,So that it will not totter forever and ever.You covered it with the deep as with a garment;The waters were standing above the mountains.At Your rebuke they fled,At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.The mountains rose; the valleys sank downTo the place which You established for them.You set a boundary that they may not pass over,So that they will not return to cover the earth.
The Lord spoke to me that morning and He told me a storm was coming. I remember thinking it was odd because things were so good at that moment. But in the next few months I would encounter an attack from the enemy like I had never experienced before. At times I would wonder if I had done something wrong. And I would be reminded of what the Lord told me that morning
That He is in the thunder and the lightening and He comes on my behalf! He sets Himself against the enemy and storms in defense of His children. The storm that comes against us is not from Him. He is the storm that defends us and fights for us. The war in the heavenlies may boom with violence but none of it will come near us.
Isaiah 54:11-17 says: O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and foundations I will lay in sapphires. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones. All your sons will be taught of the Lord; and the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established; you will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you IT WILL NOT BE FROM ME. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and brings out a weapon for its work; and I have created the destroyer to ruin. No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tonque that accuses you in the judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. And their vindication is from Me," declares the Lord.
Psalm 91 says
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most HighWill abide in the shadow of the Almighty.I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress,My God, in whom I trust!"For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapperAnd from the deadly pestilence.He will cover you with His pinions,And under His wings you may seek refuge;His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.You will not be afraid of the terror by night,Or of the arrow that flies by day;Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.A thousand may fall at your sideAnd ten thousand at your right hand,But it shall not approach you.You will only look on with your eyesAnd see the recompense of the wicked.For you have made the Lord, my refuge,Even the Most High, your dwelling place.No evil will befall you,Nor will any plague come near your tent . For He will give His angels charge concerning you,To guard you in all your ways.They will bear you up in their hands,That you do not strike your foot against a stone.You will tread upon the lion and cobra,The young lion and the serpent you will trample down."Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name."He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble ;I will rescue him and honor him."With a long life I will satisfy himAnd let him see My salvation."
1 Corinthians 15:46 tells us that the physical comes first then the spiritual. In Matthew 16, Jesus talks about discerning the signs. I have learned to watch what's happening in the physical to gain understanding about what's happening in the spiritual.
If we begin to understand that He is always for us, when we see the storm rage, we will not fear. We will trust that we are hidden in Christ and we will begin to align ourselves with God and bring the storm against the enemy.
"Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!"
Revelation 19:6
love and blessings~
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