Weather is a crazy thing – there are stories, lore, tv shows and channels, and movies dedicated to the more unusual of this natural phenomenon. The Wizard of Oz, a book, then a musical, then a movie, was constructed around a “twister” (tornado), and a hit was born. There are countless songs about weather from Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles, to Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan, to Let It Snow by Frank Sinatra.
Recently in Rock Hill, SC, there was an unprecedented supercell thunderstorm accompanied by lacrosse-ball-sized hail and straight-line winds with tornado-type wind speeds. My niece, and many people in her area, suffered immense property damage due to the storm.
Due to weather patterns, outdoor events and sports have contingencies; coastal areas post flags indicating how the weather affects tides, undertow, and wave height and strength. Cold weather destinations monitor wind-chill and snowfall; places known for heat extremes warn of dehydration and burn potential. Travel of any sort is generally impacted by various weather extremes. My son-in-law has been deferred for four days now for his first solo pilot flight in an airplane – it has either been too cloudy, or too windy.
The biggest thing about weather is that we cannot control it! While forecasting accuracy is becoming rather sophisticated, it is still not exact. I have been in places where my weather app says it is raining, yet it isn’t. Conversely, I have gotten drenched when it states that there is no rain in the forecast.
There is One who not only knows the weather, He created it, and controls it by His whim – Jesus Christ, The Living Word of Almighty God. (See John 1:1-3,14) The entirety of scripture speaks of the Sovereignty He has over the weather.
“The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: ‘Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail… Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?’” Job 38:1,22-30
The prophet Jeremiah described the power of God to the people of Israel:
“When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His storehouses.” Jeremiah 10:13
Jesus was once in a life-threatening storm with the disciples. They were completely awestruck by His command over the elements:
“They came to Jesus and woke Him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are going to drown!’ He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. ‘Where is your faith?’ he asked His disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him.’” Luke 8:24-25
When we find ourselves in the literal or figurative storms of our lives, we can try with all of our might to control it, change it, or fight it. But that power does not rest with us. God was in the midst of the storm with the disciples, just as He is with us in our storms. In the disciples’ case, He calmed the storm. Sometimes, we have to rest in Him by allowing Him to calm us, His children, instead of the storm. God has promised to never leave us no matter how blustery things get. And we may cry out to Him, “Master, I’m going to drown!” The question Jesus asked His disciples is one we must ask ourselves. “Where is your faith?” Is it in the One who is in the boat with us who has the power to calm the storm?
