Truth About Storms

Storms

Nahum 1:1-8

There has been much talk this week about the hurricane Katrina that has left much devastation in his wake.

Let me mention a few of the worst storms on record.

There was the 1926 storm that hit Florida and Alabama. The storm caused $1.2 billion in damage, leaving the city of Miami devastated and 372 dead.

There was the Labor Day storm of 1937 that struck the Florida Keys leaving 400 dead. It was the most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. and one of only two Category 5 storms to do so.

There was the 1947 storm that hit south Florida and Georgia that left 50 dead. Along with another hurricane and a tropical storm, all in a five-week period, the 1947 storm caused the worst flooding on record.

There was hurricane Camille in 1969 that left 256 dead, $3.8 billion in damage and is listed as the second most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S.

There are many others that I could name such as hurricane David of 1979, Andrew in 1992, Opal in 1995, Mitch in 1998, and Floyd in 1999.

Just last week our nation encountered a storm that will probably go down as the worst storm ever to hit America.

Storms are a part of life. Not only are there storms of nature, but there are storms of that come that will affect your families, your flesh, and your finances.

Through them all, God is still:

a. God is Gracious - vs 3

b. God is Good - vs 7

c. God is Great - vs 7

The most terrible thing in nature should hold no fear for a child of God. Storms are a fearful thing to mariners and sailors, but the Bible says the “clouds are the dust of His feet.” Whose feet are we talking about? Clouds are the feet of my heavenly Father. I have never know a child to be afraid of the dust of their father’s feet. The whirlwind, the storm, and the clouds are nothing but my Father’s servants.

There are three sides to a Christian’s Storm:

I. The Omnipotent Side of the Storm

A. He is the administrator of the storm.

God is the Administrator of the storm. God is the director of the storm. History is His Story. Disappointment could be spelled with an H - His appointment.

B. He is the authority over the storm

What great things are clouds to us. When we see black clouds gathering, we fear a coming storm. Great things are the clouds to us, but to God they are only the dust of His feet.

The greatest things with man are little things with God. The things that are over our head are under his feet.

It is God’s hand in the glove of providence.

See Psalm 107:24-31.

II. There is the Occupant’s Side of the Storm

A. It is our duty to trust God in the Storm.

God always does right, and we must by faith believe that. God never moves without purpose or plan. Things just don’t happen to a child of God.

The way of God is generally a hidden one. God seldom reveals the why of his movements.

Job had to trust God through the storm that touched his flesh, family, and his fiances. Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” How blessedly did Job’s faith hold though the storm raged terribly.

You can trust Him when you cannot trace Him.

One day C. H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a farmer friend. As they strolled along, the Spurgeon noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: "GOD IS LOVE." Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message: "Weather vanes are changeable," he said, "but God’s love is constant." "I don’t agree with you about those words, “Charles," replied his friend. "You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blow, God is love.”

B. It is our duty to obey God in the Storm.

Trust and obey for there is no other way. Never doubt in the night what God promised in the light.

C. It is our duty to glorify God in the Storm.

Isaiah 24:15 “Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.”

III. The Other Side of the Storm

On the other side of the storm you will realize that God was more than enough. He is all sufficient.

As we look back at the storm we will recognize that it was:

A. God who sustained you through the storm