The Gospel in Exodus: Lord of the Storm

Watching the news these days, I cannot help but notice how unsettling it is.  Putin is threatening to invade the Ukraine, global climate change continues to wreak havoc, the ocean appears to be dying because of pollution and overfishing, the poles are melting, the stock market is crashing every other day, the west has wildfires raging every year, crime and violence appear to be getting worse, mudslides, volcanoes, floods, tornados, hurricanes, etc. etc. etc. But this is nothing new.  The world has always seemed like it was about to fly apart.  And what about when the storms are hitting closer to home?  When we experience personal tragedy.  Does the Bible have any wisdom for us that we can apply to our lives when the storms of life are raging around us?

“The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.””  (Exodus 3:7-10)

“Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?””  (Luke 8:22-25)

Enslaved in Egypt, the Hebrew people had been crying out to God, and He heard their cry.  God tells Moses that He is going to come down and deliver them, and that He is going to send Moses to Pharaoh so that He may bring His people out of Egypt.  God was aware of their suffering and oppression.  The same is true of us today.  When we are going thru difficult times, God is aware of it.  He sees our suffering and will come down to deliver us as well.

In the Luke verse above, the disciples are being overwhelmed by a storm at sea and feel like they are perishing.  Waking Jesus up, He asks them “Where is your faith”.  He doesn’t say, “You need more faith”, or “Exercise your faith”, etc.  Rather, as Tim Keller points out in one of his sermons, He says “Where is it?”  It is like He is saying to them, “Get your faith out and use it”.  “Get it out of your pocket” so to speak.  We often do the same thing when faced with the storms of life.  We forget who we are, children of God.  We forget who God is, creator of the universe.  We forget that we belong to Him, He has bought us and paid the price for our salvation.  Where is our faith?  God wants us to get it out.

Storms are part of life in our fallen world.  Meteorological storms may even be required for the planet to be healthy, flushing out rivers and streams, watering the plants, etc.  Go to a place that never has rainstorms and you are likely in a lifeless desert of some kind.  Because sin entered the world, I suspect the same might be said of other types of storms that life has, like the storms of war, storms of economic collapse, storms of ill health, storms of personal disaster, storms of personal loss, etc.  Life includes storms, so we are going to face them, whether we like it or not.  The question is how will we face them – as people on our own – the lone wolf approach so to speak – or as a child of God by faith – the sheep with a shepherd approach.

The first thing we learn from the verses today, is that Jesus is there, in the boat with us, during whatever storm we are facing.  God heard the cry of the Hebrews and He hears our cry today.  We are not alone, just as the disciples were not alone.  He has bought us with a price – we are His, and He is here with us right now.  This is a major reality that we need to believe, embrace, take comfort in, rest in, etc.  We are sheep, and we have a shepherd.  Jesus, our shepherd, will do whatever is necessary to care for us in the situation we find ourselves in.  He will get us thru it, one way or another. He is the “good shepherd“.  Psalm 23 tells us just how cared for we are by God, and is a great passage to meditate on during difficult times in our life.

Secondly, we need to go to Him.  Just as the cry of the Children of Israel reached God, and as the disciples came to Jesus and woke Him up, we need to go to Jesus as well – in prayer, in fellowship, in worship – however He leads us – and spend some time with Him, making our requests known to Him.  Philippians 4:6-8 reads:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:6-7)

When we have anxious thoughts or feelings, we are to go to Jesus.  When the storms of life have cornered us, we are to go to Jesus.  When we are facing great tragedy and loss, we are to go to Jesus.  When our life seems to be collapsing and crashing in around us, we are to go to Jesus.  When the world seems to be coming unglued, we are to go to Jesus.  Bottom line – go to Jesus.

Thirdly, when we get to Jesus, He will deal with the situation.  Jesus will do whatever needs to be done to get us thru the storm.  Whether it is calming the sea like He did in the Luke 8 story, sending ten plagues to Egypt like in the Exodus story, running the ship aground as in Paul’s story (Acts 27), being swallowed by a fish like Jonah was, etc., God will deal with the situation.  Usually He either ends it, takes us thru it, or takes us out of it.  We must cooperate with God in this phase, and let Him work.

Fourthly, we must get out our faith.  We must ask ourselves, “Where is our faith?”  We must get it out and use it.  Storms are a great time to have faith in God.  Romans 8:28 is a verse that Christians often rest upon when in the midst of a storm:

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  (Romans 8:28)

We are called according to God’s purpose, and whatever storm we are going thru is a part of His story for our lives.  If we love God, and are called according to His purpose, we can rest assured that whatever storm is going on in our life today will eventually work together for good.  Think of the story of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers.  Imagine that we were there for that, watching it happen.  It would have been very difficult if not impossible for us to imagine in that moment how God would use that storm in Joseph’s life the way that He did, taking him from a slave to second in command in Egypt.

In the summer of 2019 our property flooded for roughly a week.  You would think that a disaster like that was a terrible thing.  But because God was there ‘in the boat with us’ so to speak, it became one of the greatest experiences of our lives. Because we saw Him in action every day, carrying us thru the recovery and the rebuilding, it went from being a ‘disaster’ to being a ‘God story’.  It was an amazing time in our lives that I would not trade for anything.  Every day He did something to remind us that He was there in the boat with us.  When we find ourselves in one of life’s storms, we have to get our faith out and look for Him, remembering that this is His story for our lives that we are living thru.

What storm are you facing today in your life?  What disaster or tragedy has come upon you this week?  This month?  This year?  In what ways do you feel like you are perishing today?  What is making you anxious?  What is making you suffer?  What is oppressing you?  I encourage you to remember that Jesus is in the boat with you.  Though you are in the midst of a storm, you are not alone.   Jesus is there.  Go to Him in prayer, ask Him to rescue you, and then get out your faith.  Believe in Him.  Believe what His word says.  Believe that you are truly living in an ‘Exodus story” that God is writing right now, and that He is in control of all things.  He even commands the sea to be still, and it calms down.  There is no storm too great for Him.  Cry out to God, as the children of Israel did, and He will hear you.  Go to Jesus and wake Him, as the disciples did, and He will calm the sea.

Lord Jesus, I come before you today and pray for deliverance from the storm that I am facing in my life right now.  In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me.  Incline Your ear to me and save me.  I pray that you would still the sea as You did for the disciples.  Still the storm in my life.  Bring deliverance to me, as you did for the children of Israel when they cried out to you from their bondage in Egypt.  Carry me through this time in my life.  Give me eyes to see and ears to hear that I may be aware of your presence in my life every day. Help me to get my faith out and use it.  I pray these things in Jesus name, amen.

“But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;“ ”  (Isaiah 43:1-3)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

“I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.  They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.  This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.”   (Psalm 34:4-7)

“The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”  (Psalm 34:17-19)

“In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He answered me.”  (Psalm 120:1)