As I sit to write today’s devotional, it is Monday, March 31. Yesterday was church. I woke up with a feeling/emotion that’s hard to put into words. The best way I can describe it is full. I feel like I went to the Lord’s all-you-can-eat buffet and waddled out the door, stuffed, satisfied, and ready to blow! How’s that for a graphic word picture?!? I think it’s one that most of us can identify with physically. I just hope you all can identify with it spiritually. Let me try my best to explain what I’m feeling today.
The morning message was the last of the revival series. You must understand that the preacher preaches to everyone, including the preacher! At the beginning of the week, the Sunday morning message starts working on me. When it’s preached, the Lord gives me things I had not seen and reinforces things I had seen. You think that a 40-minute sermon is rough to endure? Try listening to the same sermon preached in your heart for DAYS… sometimes even in the middle of the night! The Lord showed me things in my life that needed some attention and improvement.
Sunday nights begin for me at 3:45. I’m working on music, practicing an hour before the actual practices start. At 5:27, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch. By 5:36, the watch had been upgraded to a warning. And, by 5:42, we went straight to a tornado warning. In spite of the weather, faithful saints rolled into church, joyful, fellowshipping, and ready for church. Nobody was in a panic, rushing for the doors to head home. And we had CHURCH!
While our security teams kept an eye on the weather in case we needed to hunker down in our tornado shelters, the rest of the church sang praises to the Lord and the volume of the voices overcame the volume of the pounding rain. When I stood to preach, I told everyone to listen. It was quiet and the storm had passed.
I didn’t get home until 8:45 that night. People stayed, talked, laughed, cried, prayed – there was a real sense that most people were not anxious to get home. A week before this Sunday, I had preached about revival and how it helps us recognize the presence of the Lord. All who missed church last night (3/30) missed out on that sweet visitation.
One of the hymns we sang last evening was Till The Storm Passes By. In fact, we were
singing it as the thunder boomed and the wind and rain pounded the roof of the church. The power of that song, though, hit me this morning as I was waiting to unload students from my bus. Watching the sky as I was facing north was awesome. It’s still what some would say is a gloomy, overcast, rainy day. Instead, I saw the storm clouds being pushed to the east while a lighter sky was revealed underneath.
The storm was passing by!
Till the storm passes over, Till the thunder sounds no more;
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky –
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand.
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.1
As the clouds rolled by and this song started throbbing in my chest, it was hard not to burst out singing. I considered that this might take the kids by surprise, so I refrained, but it was pressing hard in me. It reminded me that God is still God in the storm, whatever that storm might be. Rather than panicking in fear, allowing the fear to paralyze us and keeping us from enjoying the moment, we need to relearn a lesson that the disciples had to learn. I leave you today with the Scripture, praying that this will impact you in a fresh, new way. Our God is MORE than good. He is worthy of our worship and praise, especially in the midst of a storm.
“Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. (23) But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. (24) And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. (25) And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.” (Luke 8:22-25)
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1Till The Storm Passes By; words and music by Mosie Lister; Copyright 1973
