Storm God?

We have all been confronted, yet again, in recent days, with the stark reality of life on planet earth.  What the reports from across the U.S., China, Myanmar, and many other places remind us of is the reality of destruction on this sphere we call Earth.  The havoc inducing realities of storms reach every nook and cranny of the globe it seems.  One thing is sure, we are all touched by the reality of storms in our lives.

As many of you are aware, my first book, Soul Storm: finding God amidst disaster, deals with God’s ability to meet and sustain us amidst the storms of life.  If we are to move forward with purpose and hope, we must step out trusting that an all knowing and all powerful God can yet have His way in our lives.  Even as we find ourselves surrounded by debris and rubble in the aftermath of the storm, we can be assured that God has His plan, a plan for our good, in mind.  Jeremiah 29:11 states that God has a plan for us…one to prosper us and not to harm us.

For those directly trapped and held captive by the fury of the storms we see broadcast across the television screens, it can feel as if there is no hope for another day.  How does one make sense of such a life altering event?  How can despair be overcome when all is lost.  When we are reduced to nothing more than what remains within this skin-covered frame, how can we begin to imagine a future with promise?

Whether you have encountered such an experience in this life in the form of a weather storm or not, chances are you are familiar with the brevity of these questions.  Like those in Myanmar, China, and those ravaged by Katrina just a few years ago, most, if not all of us, have encountered life altering moments which have left us in despair.

Mark Batterson, in his book, In a Pit with a Lion On a Snowy Day, reminds readers of the nature of overwhelming odds.  The title of the book, taken from a passage in the Old Testament which speaks of an unlikely encounter, one filled with victory in the face of overwhelming odds, points us toward a game plan for moving forward despite what appears to be our undoing.  The story unfolds in 2 Samuel 23:20,21.

At first glance the mention of Benaiah appears to be little more than an insignificant blurb lost in the pages of greater Old Testament writings.  But when time is taken to consider what is going on here, a marvelous truth unfolds.

Benaiah, a man who eventually would become bodygaurd to David, is depicted here as a man who was enabled by God to overcome enormous odds.  Despite being out-sized, out-footed, cornered in a dimly lit pit with an animal who could see perfectly in such a place, and on slippery snow covered ground facing a beast known for its footwork, this warrior hero is said to have taken on a lion on his own turf and slaughtered him.  Think about the scene here.

A man, at the very best one-third the size of the beast, was also at a decided teeth deficit, claw deficit, and pouncing power deficit.  As Batterson suggests in his book, the odds were more than a little bit on the side of the king of the jungle in this encounter.

But as the account unfolds the most unlikely of things happens…we are told, simply, that Benaiah wins the contest.  With all the tangibles against him, summoning the will to fight, he takes victory.  He dared to face the odds, and rather than lie down and quit, he stood up and actually pursued the battle.  He went after the big guy.

The lessons, which are many fold, encourage us to fight on amidst what appears to be our last hope.  When all looks lost, when we have no ability to make things work out, when the opposition seems much bigger, stronger, faster, wealthier, meaner, uglier, nastier, hungrier, and any other “ier” you can put in there, we yet have hope.  We can put our trust in God no matter the force of the storm.

This is the message of every great person of faith depicted in the Bible.  If you study their lives, and that is a study worth pursuing, what you find is that every great “hero” of faith had a moment or moments when it seemed all was lost.  It is in those moments that God arrived and demonstrated His power.

Amidst overwhelming odds, great opposition, and ravaging storms God is able to do His thing.  He can rescue us, bring us victory, offer us hope, and reach out to others through our efforts.  As we encounter the storms of life, and as we watch others wrestle with the aftermath of their own storms, we must take heart and hope in God’s strength.

There are moments when we all become aware of the frailty of life.  We are not our own master.  We do not control the universe.  There are forces bigger, better, and stronger than we.  But as the scriptures urge us, we must find our victory in Him.  Our strength is not in the power of the dollar, might, power, position, manipulation, or the title on our door.  All of these combined amount to nothing when compared to the power of God.  And they can all be lost in an instant.

In Him and in Him alone do we find our hope, our help, and our strength.  May we all reach out to others and bring them this same hope amidst despair.  Share with others the truth found in an odds beating God.
Grace and Peace amidst the shaking,

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org

This entry was posted on 13. May 2008 at 14:21 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.