storms

[forgiven]

Title: Not All Storms Are Bad

Read Psalm 18:7-15

These verses present one of the greatest
descriptions of a storm found in the Bible. It is
a graphic picture of the way God works when He
comes to the aid of His children. David was
saying in these verses that God the Creator, God
the Deliverer, used everything in nature to come
to his aid. The earth shook, down to its
foundations. Smoke came up, and fire came out.
Coals were kindled. The heavens bowed down. The
wind began to blow, for God was coming on the
wings of the wind. We see darkness, dark waters,
thick clouds, even hailstones and coals of fire.
Thunder, lightning--the very breath of God was
blowing across the fields.

When the child of God is in His will, all of
nature works for him. When the child of God is
out of His will, everything works against him.
Remember Jonah? He ran away from God in
disobedience, and what happened? A storm
appeared. The wind and waves were violent. That
little boat went up and down on the ocean like a
cork. Even the mariners were worried. Jonah
disobeyed God, and everything in nature worked
against him. David obeyed God, and everything in
nature worked for him.

God can use the storms of life to fulfill His
will. Is the wind blowing? He is flying on the
wings of the wind. Are the clouds thick? He will
bring showers of blessing out of them. Don't be
afraid of the storm. Storms can come from the
hand of God and be the means of blessing.

Author: Warren Wiersbe

[forgiven]

Deliverance in the Stormy Winds

"The Lord brought an east wind upon the land all
that day, and all that night; and when it was
morning, the cast wind brought the
locusts....Then Pharaoh called for Moses and
Aaron in haste....And the Lord turned a mighty
strong west wind, which took away the locusts,
and cast them into the Red sea; there remained
not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt"
(Exod. 10:13, 19).

See how in the olden times, when the Lord fought
for Israel against the cruel Pharaoh, the stormy
winds wrought out their deliverance; and yet
again, in that grandest display of power--the
last blow that God struck at the proud defiance
of Egypt. A strange, almost cruel thing it must
have seemed to Israel to he hemmed in by such a
host of dangers--in front the wild sea defying
them, on either hand the rocky heights cutting
off all hope of escape, the night of hurricane
gathering over them. It was as if that first
deliverance had come only to hand them over to
more certain death. Completing the terror there
rang out the cry: "The Egyptians are upon us!"

When it seemed they were trapped for the foe,
then came the glorious triumph. Forth swept the
stormy wind and beat back the waves, and the
hosts of Israel marched forward, down into the
path of the great deep--a way arched over with
God's protecting love.

On either hand were the crystal walls glowing in
the light of the glory of the Lord; and high
above them swept the thunder of the storm. So on
through all that night; and when, at dawn of the
next day, the last of Israel's host set foot upon
the other shore, the work of the stormy wind was
done.

Then sang Israel unto the Lord the song of the
"stormy wind fulfilling his word."

"The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil...Thou didst blow with
thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead
in the mighty waters."

One day, by God's great mercy, we, too, shall
stand upon the sea of glass, having the harps of
God. Then we shall sing the song of Moses, the
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Just
and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." We
shall know then how the stormy winds have wrought
out our deliverance.

Now you see only the mystery of this great
sorrow; then you shall see how the threatening
enemy was swept away in the wild night of fear
and grief.

Now you look only at the loss; then you shall see
how it struck at the evil that had begun to rivet
its fetters upon you.

Now you shrink from the howling winds and
muttering thunders; then you shall see how they
beat back the waters of destruction, and opened
up your way to the goodly land of promise.
--Mark Guy Pearse

"Though winds are wild,
And the gale unleashed,
My trusting heart still sings:
I know that they mean
No harm to me,
He rideth on their wings."

Author: Mrs. Charles E. Cowman