“When you get outside the will of God, you may find yourself in a storm.” One of my pastor friends had decided to welcome people of a different race to his church back in the 1960s in the U.S. Leaders of the church protested in anger. One of the deacons met the pastor as he arrived at the church on a Saturday and said, “When you get outside the will of God, you may find yourself in a storm.”
Seventy-five mile-per-hour winds shut down the airports on the Eastern Seaboard, yesterday. Offices closed in New York and Washington D. C. in anticipation of a violent storm. The news commentators predicted a long night. As I write, one million are without power. Why did those storms hit there? Were all those people outside the will of God? Mixing meteorology and theology is tricky.
On the way to Rome, Paul and his companions, including Luke, found themselves in a storm. En route to Rome, the weather began to change. Paul told them not to sail, but the centurion ignored him. So they set out. It did not go well. Luke says they lost hope of being saved. An angel told Paul, that they would all survive but they would run aground. Paul took God at his word. God was with Paul and took them safely to Rome where he would stand before Caesar.
My pastor friend told his deacon, “You can be in the will of God and find yourself in a storm.” He gave the example of Paul. Every Sunday I look up at our Great Commission window behind the center balcony. In the stained glass, I see a ship, an anchor, and a Bible. God’s word gives us hope that is an anchor for our souls. As we do God’s will, we will find ourselves in terrible storms. But we are never alone in the storm. Again and again, God comes to us and assures us that he is working out his plan. He promises in his word never to leave us nor forsake us. Let’s take him at his word.
