Most times in our lives, especially during periods of turmoil, both within and outside, we seek clarity about the cause and expected effect of that moment, but find none. One moment it all seems perfect and suddenly a windstorm hits and everything is turned over into chaos. Everyone faces such storms at one time or the other, when we are left with the after effects of that tornado. It takes a long time to get it all back to normal and be prepared for the next one.
The reasons for hindrances in being successful and doing good – When the earth was fully engulfed by darkness, God revealed the glory of His Son, to be His instrument, to execute the plan of creation on the earth (Genesis 1:4). But, with the coming of the light darkness did not disappear, as it should have but ‘God separated the light from the darkness’ and both exist. Everything that has been created from the earth has both of these elements in them and it gets reflected in their nature. Man was formed from the dust of the earth and God breathed into Him, ‘and man became a living being’ (Genesis 2:7). With the sun and the moon also giving light, a man has spiritual light and darkness and lives in earthly light and darkness. With sin, the spiritual light in a person was eclipsed and darkness took over. Since then a person with this nature is living in spiritual darkness but in the earthly light to guide him. As such the struggles of life become a continuous part of life, for the earthly light cannot keep Him safe from the prevailing spiritual darkness.
God appeared on Mount Sinai, while the mountain ‘was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly’ (Exodus 19:17-18). God’s glory remains covered with smoke, for when Moses wanted to see God’s glory, he was told, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live’ (Exodus 33:20). Moses went from the earthly light into the darkness on Mount Sinai and further into the light of the glory of the LORD God. While coming down from the mountain of God, he did not know that his face shone (Exodus 34:29-30). When Aaron and the others saw Moses’ face shining, ‘they were afraid to come near him. To be in such a close relationship with God is the greatest reward for any human being.
The holy and just God does not hide Himself from mankind for any other reason, but to protect them from destruction because of our sinful nature. An individual is continuously in struggle, a spiritual struggle between the truth of God in His Word and the lies of the devil. Many believers think that their life must be all joy and no turmoil as believers and many turn to Lord Jesus with this singular aim and are disappointed. Every struggle of life, both internal or external, is a God-given opportunity to take out the light hidden in that and convert the darkness itself into light. Such light helps in overcoming the darkness of struggles and moves the person into a blessed state.
The first spiritual struggle and the most important one was faced by Adam and Eve, for on them the future history of all mankind depended. That is the reason that the devil used the serpent who ‘was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made’ (Genesis 3:1). We must understand that the greater the storm with its challenge, the more essential it is for us to defeat and overcome it to fulfil our very purpose of life. It is not that these storms come with a warning, there may not be any dark clouds in the sky to warn. God Himself declared him the best person alive in that generation, a righteous and God-fearing man (Job 1:8 & 2:3). But in one day he lost all his children, his wealth, servants and then his health and the support of his friends. Did he deserve all the suffering and though he received double of all that he had lost, was it right for God to do it to him?
Despite being warned by Daniel about his dream, King Nebuchadnezzar, of Babylon, was filled with pride, humbled by God to live as a wild beast, eating grass in the jungle for seven years (Daniel 4:30-35). When he came back to his senses, God returned his kingdom back. He declared before all in his kingdom, ‘All the inhabitants of the earth are reported as nothing: He (God) does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’’
During school years every student dreads the one line from the teacher, ‘Now, take out a plain sheet of paper and write your name on it’. That indicates a surprise test about what the students have grasped so far and then come the quarterly and the final tests also. Every test is for preparation or assessing suitability for promotion to a higher class. Also, one gets to be encouraged by his progress and to work harder to improve further. The storms of life work as indicators for the necessity of continuing in our efforts and of the certainty that all the needed resources have already been provided to us by God. Our effort is to find and cling to the light in that darkness and use it to move forward.
Right from the early stages of Lord Jesus’ ministry, when the news of His teaching and miraculous works spread, the Pharisees, the Scribes and the Jewish leaders opposed and tried to trap Him into saying something against the Law of Moses. We learn that ‘the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk’ (Matthew 22:15). The Son of God came ‘to give life’ to all mankind by restoring their relationship with God, through forgiveness of sins by His crucifixion. At no stage did He do anything that could harm anyone in any way, but healed the sick and freed the suffering from the control of the demonic forces. In one of the most difficult prophecies about Lord Jesus, it is written about Him, ‘I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. For the LORD God will help Me; therefore, I will not be disgraced; therefore, I have set My face like a flint and I will know that I will not be ashamed’ (Isaiah 50:6-7).
An essential aspect of Divine Providence is: the more difficult and challenging are the storms, the more important it is to face and overcome it to fulfil your life’s mission. God sets the course, our job is to move forward without complaining and continue to get up and move, even after falling down. His will must be done, for He will in any case ensure that it gets done.
Why does the All-knowing God let hurdles come in our way – Joseph was the firstborn son of Rachel, whom Jacob loved and he was pampered by his father. He had two dreams and told those to his brothers ‘and they hated him even more’ (Genesis 37). He was sent by Jacob to see the welfare of his brothers, who were caring for the flocks, while he was enjoying at home. In their jealousy, his brothers, first, threw him into a pit which had no water and then sold him to the Ishmaelites. In Egypt he was bought to be slave at Potiphar’s house, Pharoah’s officer and Captain of the guard (Genesis 39). He had learnt about the way to live righteously from his father but the application of that knowledge was as a slave.
First, he refused to have an immoral relation with his master’s wife, saying, ‘How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against the LORD?’ (Genesis 39:9). He was put in prison over the false accusation of Potiphar’s wife and due to his right living, the keeper of the prison made him in-charge. Despite his undeserved sufferings, he did not keep crying over it and continued to work diligently. He had compassion on the baker and the butler of Pharaoh, who were put in prison. He rightly interpreted their dreams, but the butler or the cupbearer of the king forgot about him. After two years, he was called to interpret the Pharaoh’s dream (Genesis 41:16). He honoured God by saying, ‘It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace’. He was made number two after Pharaoh to manage the seven years of abundance and seven years of famine over the land. He managed everything wonderfully well ‘for the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper’.
He got his whole family there and allotted to them the best grazing land of Egypt in Goshen. After the death of Jacob, his brothers were afraid that he may take his revenge over them. He could say to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?’ (Genesis 50:19-21). He could see God’s hand in all the storms that he faced, in strengthening and rescuing him from it all. He could say to his brothers, ‘you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring about as it is this day, to save many lives’. He was filled with pride as a young man ‘who brought evil report about them (his brothers) to his father’ (Genesis 37:2). He wore his ‘coat of many colours’ everywhere, flaunting his special status. The trials and storms that Joseph faced in his life humbled him, made him realise the importance of God in his life and his dependence upon God. Jacob and his whole family were moved by God to let them live separated from the Egyptians, who disliked the shepherds. In this manner they could maintain their separate identity as the chosen of the LORD.
The knowledge of the LORD God helps us to learn His ways but real life is about living in that manner.
Apostle James, our Lord’s brother, said, ‘My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials’ (James 1:2-4). But how can anyone feel joy in suffering? He clarified that the storms are to test our faith and it ‘produces patience’. When we patiently endure all that comes our way and move forward, we see the perfect work of patience. It transforms us to ‘be perfect and complete, lacking nothing’. This is the work of our Lord Jesus in us and not only about earthly possessions. The church, all believers, is thus cleansed through the storms to make it spotless and free from blemishes of sinful nature and deeds (Ephesians 5:27). He desires His bride, the church, to be ‘holy and without blemish’. God can see our internal desire to live in obedience but must test us to see our conduct in the storms.
He has free-will to do as He pleases and we, being made in His image, have the same. It is only during troubling times, that we must make a decision about remaining committed to Him or go on our way. Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, faced such a difficult situation (Daniel 3:17-18). King Nebuchadnezzar had installed a golden image, 90 feet high and nine feet wide and all were commanded to worship that. The Hebrew men refused despite the definite punishment of being cast into the burning furnace. Their reply to the king was, ‘our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O King’. Innumerable believers have faced such situations and refused to deny their Saviour. They further said, ‘But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up’.
Faced with such a difficult situation, what will each and every one of us do? That is the reason for all the storms and the trials that come with these. God knows our inner state but do we know it and live as per that? Are we the same behind closed doors and in public? The disciples hid behind closed doors after Lord Jesus’ crucifixion. Knowing their state and their mission God the Holy Spirit filled them with power to openly preach the Word and thousands were saved.
Getting strengthened and escaping the destruction of the storms of life – Among the disciples, Apostle John was the only one who lived a long life and died of natural causes. In Ephesus, he was put into boiling oil and suffered no harm, for he refused to turn from following the Lord. He was exiled to Patmos Island and received revelation about the end-times. There will definitely be certain losses of worldly possessions, relationships or other such things but the rewards are far greater than the losses. The promise of God to the Israelites and to all believers is, ‘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’ (Isaiah 43:2).
Apostle John had experienced these blessings in the storms and how the Lord saved them in every situation. After feeding the five thousand families with five loaves and two fish, Lord Jesus, ‘made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side’ (Matthew 14:22-32). They moved in God’s wish but faced a severe storm and were struggling throughout the night. To rescue them the Lord walked on the turbulent waters towards them. After their fears were calmed, out of the twelve, only Apostle Peter sought His permission to step out of the boat to go to Him. He could then walk on water, an impossible task for anyone. But God can not only make impossible possible but also equip simple but willing men to do this.
Lord Jesus called out Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, to come out of the grave (John 11:43-44). Later, people started bringing the sick and ‘those who were tormented by unclean spirits’ and ‘laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on them’ (Acts 5:15-16). When we see this with our earthly knowledge and wisdom, do we see any logic in this? But they were healed. In Troas, while Apostle Paul was preaching to the people throughout the night, a young man named Eutychus fell asleep, fell down from the third floor and died (Acts 20:9-10). But, Apostle Paul went down, ‘fell on him, and embracing him said, ‘Do not trouble yourself, for his life is in him’. And he was raised to life.
Whatever be the storm that we face, internal or external, continuous or fleeting, physical or spiritual, God provides us with the required abilities, tools and the strength to overcome that. These come in our lives as ladders in the form of such challenges and are sent by God to elevate us to greater heights. God allows this for He knows our capabilities better than us and believes that we can prevail over that with the capabilities given by Him. But we often think, ‘Why me?’ Only those who are strong spiritually and in faith, are given such ladders for they are chosen for special roles. In this manner, we not only identify our hidden and unknown strengths and abilities but also learn to use them.
God can never find joy in the sufferings of His people and uses that for blessing them. There is no darkness of any storm that does not have hidden light with it, and that light is able to fill and equip us for unimaginable feats. Our job is to persevere.
Throughout our lives we face various types of tests that the forces of evil bring or are permitted by the LORD God Himself. However, we are equipped beforehand by the same God with all the required capabilities to face these. Due to lack of faith, many people are unable to perceive this and remain stuck in the mire of afflictions. The basic purpose of every storm in our lives is to lead us to and up the ladder of opportunities and reach greater heights!
