A Refuge From The Storm

A Refuge From The Storm

“You have been ... a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm.” Isaiah 25:4 NIV

As we approach the winter season with its many storms, some of us are going through many storms in our lives, both natural and spiritual. Remember, no matter what kind of storm we are going through, God is always with us.

Because there are many lessons to be learned during a storm, Jesus asks us to stop fighting against the storms that crash in on us and just ride them out (Lk. 8:22-25). He wants us to look for the reason He has allowed the storm to come into our lives. Once He gets our attention, so that we will listen to Him, then the storm will have done its work.

Genesis 1:2-3 gives us insight on how God works to overcome the darkness by bringing light into it, because “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5). It doesn’t matter how dark our situation is, God is able to bring light and peace to it. “The Lord ... is in the whirlwind and the storm” (Nah. 1:3).

Jesus said, “In Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).

Most times when we are in a storm of life, the first thought is, “What sin have I committed to bring this awful thing into my life?” Job 1:8 tells us that Job was living right and serving the Lord. Sometimes God wants to stir us up to mature us. When God wants to raise us up to a higher spiritual level, we are inclined to resist because we have become too comfortable with the level of victory He has previously given. He may then allow a storm to come that will not respond to the methods we have become accustomed to using. Job was surprised with what was happening in his life, but through it all his faith in God grew even stronger. And so will ours if we trust God, believe Him, and know without any doubt that He is carrying us to a higher level.

Sin brings storms into our lives but sin does not have to defeat us. John wrote: “I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense, Jesus Christ the Righteous One” (1 Jn. 2:1). We must remember that sin has no power over us (Lk. 10:19), and that Jesus suffered the greatest storm of persecution on the cross for us. Knowing all this gives us an excellent reason to praise our Savior. Unless we learn how to read God’s purpose in the storms that He allows in our lives, we will find ourselves tossed helplessly to and fro onto the rocks of doubt and fear. The way to do this is to study His Word daily to get to know Him as our Heavenly Father, to know His ways, and to fellowship with Him.

God wants to show us how to relate to the storms that blow up in our lives. The first way to face them is to admit they are too much for us and that we don’t know why they have come. The next thing to do is recognize that God does know. Then we need to trust Him to reveal His will to us, in His way and in His time. The important thing to do is to trust, knowing that Jesus is the one who “rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!”’ (Mk. 4:39). We should praise Him even before we know whether the storm will be calmed or we will be given the strength to endure it.

By Ramon Salcido