What’s the worst storm you’ve ever been in? How did you feel in that storm? What were the lasting effects, if any?
I’ve been in my share of storms, and one that stands out to me happened a long time ago when the airport in Hong Kong, Kai Tak, was still located in fairly central Hong Kong. During its existence, Kai Tak was heralded as one of the world’s most dangerous airports because of its location among skyscrapers and the approach over Victoria Harbor. One time, I landed at this challenging airport during a typhoon, and that was more than a little nerve-wracking!
The Bible has lots of situations in which people had to navigate storms, whirlwinds and even Euroclydon! Euroclydon is a horrendous storm in the Mediterranean, and you can read about its severity and effects from Paul’s experience in Acts 27.
I think it’s important for us to consider the storms in the Bible because they can give us some helpful pointers and observations for the various storms in our life. While we may not be experiencing stormy weather (intense rain, gale storm winds, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes, etc.) in our life now, there will be stormy seasons and tumultuous upheavals. It’s possible that you’ve experienced various storms in your life with a health challenge or crisis, a job situation, struggles with a teacher, student or classmate, family squalls and an assortment of other difficulties.
Here are some things to think about regarding storms, whirlwinds and Euroclydon:
· Whirlwinds are an exclamation point for something important—Elijah was separated from Elisha by a whirlwind in 2 Kings 2. This event marked the conclusion of Elijah’s ministry and the beginning of Elisha’s double-portion ministry. Additionally, God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind, as you can read in Job 38:1. The whirlwind was the beginning of a series of questions from God to level-set Job’s perspective on the hardships in his life. A whirlwind in life’s events can be used by God to get our attention for an important milestone or recalibrating our perspective.
· Storms can be seen throughout the Bible, beginning with the one that started the whole flooding thing with Noah’s ark. Additionally, there have been storms in the Old Testament to support the Israelites in battle (Joshua 10:11). Let’s also remember that one of the ten plagues in Exodus was a storm with horrific lightning, and Jonah’s experience with a whale was preceded by a massive storm. Furthermore, in the New Testament, consider that Peter walked on the water to Jesus during a storm until he transferred his attention to the waves and wind, resulting in him sinking and being rescued by Jesus. Let’s be clear that God can use storms in our life to be very good things: as a means of protection, validation and helping us to grow in our faith!
· Euroclydon was a storm of gigantic proportions that lasted approximately fourteen days! Paul experienced this storm as he was a prisoner on a ship that was supposed to sail to Rome. Ultimately, the ship lost all of its cargo, tackle and navigation equipment, and it was destroyed by being smashed to pieces by violent waves, battering the ship against the shore of an island. Nevertheless, Paul was the key person to give everyone hope and faith in such dire conditions. Consider the second part of Acts 27:20:
“From then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.”
In the midst of such total hopelessness, Paul stands up and encourages everyone on the ship with him, telling them that God was in control, and He had let Paul know that no lives would be lost on the ship, even though the ship would be destroyed from the storm. When we go through the worst storm of our life, let’s not give up hope nor lose sight of Jesus as our life preserver!
To be sure, life has plenty of storms, challenges, whirlwinds, cyclones, blizzards, unexpected hazards and crises. But let us keep our eyes on Jesus and our faith in Him. He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith, even in tumultuous times!
