For those going through a storm

Tom Crenshaw June 26, 2022

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Tucked away in the little book of Nahum is a verse that is easily missed. It's where Nahum writes. God's way is in "the whirlwind and the storm." (Nahum 3:1)

Have you ever wondered why you went through some of the things you've had to face? Have you ever wanted to shake your fist at God, and say, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Last night I walked away from a church service for a child who was born and lived only a few short weeks before God took her home. Devastated by their loss, I know that in the short span of her life, spent mostly in two hospitals, those parents must have uttered the same cry: "Why, Lord, why?"

A while ago I was on the phone talking with a person who was angry over what he felt God had been putting him through, and he was asking that same question: "Why me, God?"

Well, Nahum reminds us that sometimes God puts us in the midst of the storm clouds to teach us valuable lessons that we could only learn through suffering.

George Mueller said about such situations that in "1,000 trials, it is not just 500 of them that work for the good of the believer, but 999 plus one" (Streams in the Desert, June 10th)

Moses knew the truth that sometimes God uses "the whirlwind and the storm" to get our attention. In Deuteronomy 4:30, he writes, "When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you ... you will return to the Lord your God and listen to his voice."

I think this is a message we all need to learn in times of trouble. We need to sit at His feet and quietly listen to what He might be teaching us in the midst of our trial. While all things that happen to us may not appear good from a human perspective, even the worst of those things can be used for good if we will listen to His still small voice seeks that seeks to teach us during our perplexity and pain.

We all may experience the whirlwind and the storm in our lives, and we need them, for it is one of God's most effective tools for drawing us closer to Him.

William Cowper, the great poet and hymn writer, could take the stand in defense of what I've written. He passed through a period of great crisis in his life. Finally, one bleak morning he tried to put an end to his life by taking poison. The attempt at suicide failed.

He then hired a coach, was driven to the Thames river, intending to throw himself from the bridge... But was 'strangely restrained.' The next morning, he fell upon a sharp knife, but his blade broke. He later tried to hang himself but was found and taken down unconscious ... still alive.

Sometime later he took up a Bible, began to read the book of Romans, and was gloriously saved. The God of the "whirlwind and the storm" had pursued him unto the end and won his heart (The Finishing Touch, Chuck Swindoll, pp. 238-39).

Later in his life, Cooper sat down and penned his experience in a hymn that many of us have sung.

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea,

and rides upon the storm."

When those whirlwinds and storms come sweeping into your life, when one adversity after another comes piling up on your doorstep, perhaps it may be God's attention-getter, driving you closer to Him. I think that is what my friend on the phone needed to hear, and so often it is what I need to hear.

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Tom Crenshaw serves as Connections Pastor of the New Monmouth Baptist Church (non denominational) where he previously served as a three year interim.He has been married to Jean for almost 50 years, and they have four children, all of whom are teachers.Tom loves perennial gardening, umpiring high school baseball, coaching baseball and football, fishing for small mouth bass, rooting for his favorite team, the Cleveland Indians, and listening to ‘real’ country music, the classic kind. Learn More »

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