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The Purpose of the Storm


Nahum 1:3 – “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet.”
God has His way in the storm.  He uses the winds for His purposes.  I believe God is a good God. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” There are many things we do not understand in this life.  How can a holy God allow such a devastating storm? 
Storms are a result of the curse that sin brought on creation.  We learn in Genesis 3:17-19, “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Sin affected all of creation.  Creation is crying out for redemption.  The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:20-22, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”
In Nahum 1:3 we learn that God has His way in the whirlwind and the storm.  He will often warn us of an  impending storm.  He uses the winds to establish His purposes.  Can we prepare for a coming storm?  There are five instructions the Lord taught me about how to be prepared for the storm:
1.    Do not fear the storm.  He is in the storm and His glory will be revealed in the storm.
2.    Get into position.  Take the posture of faith.  Don’t be moved by what you see.  Be moved by what He says.
3.    We must be careful to hear His voice in this season of time and move only by His direction.
4.    Get ready to move into your possession.  It is time to possess your promised inheritance.  
5.    We must not allow the enemy to intimidate us.  He will use intimidation to move us out of our inheritance (assignment).  Our place of assignment will be our place of protection and provision.
The Lord does not always deliver from the storm, but will deliver us in the storm.  Isaiah records this powerful promise in Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.”

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