EDITORIAL: Where Is Your Faith?

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 7
THE wind and rain that spoiled your picnic very likely brought relief to many, and a greater production from nearby farmers' fields. An old saying goes this way: "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good." God's Word says, "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Eccl. 3:11To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Hurricane season is nearly always in the late summer or early fall. Tropical cyclones in the western hemisphere are called hurricanes, and in the eastern hemisphere they are called typhoons. Tropical storms are spawned in low atmospheric pressure areas over very warm seas. In the northern hemisphere the Coriolis effect deflects the winds to the right, but to the left in the southern hemisphere.
Although God uses nature, He is above it and not bound by it. He works all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:1111In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11)). The psalmist says, "Stormy wind fulfilling His word." Psa. 148:88Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling his word: (Psalm 148:8). Sometimes nature is used to test man, as we see in the case of Job. "While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee." Job 1:18, 1918While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: 19And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. (Job 1:18‑19).
Are there storms in your life and in mine? Most of us will agree to this, and we need to rest in God and know that He is in full control. He always has His end in view for the blessing of His children.
Other reasons for God's permitting storms such as tornadoes are found in Job 37:9-139Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. 10By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. 11Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud: 12And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. 13He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy. (Job 37:9‑13). The last verse mentions "correction" but it ends with "for mercy." Sometimes in the "tornado alley" of the Midwest U.S.A. we have seen that the samples of God's judgment "correction" have caused men to think seriously of eternal things. If so, there is God's mercy available to all, for He is rich in mercy and not willing that any should perish.
The question the Lord asked of those that were in the ship with Him after He had rebuked the wind and the raging water, was "Where is your faith?" Luke 8:2525And 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 8:25). Do we have faith in that same Lord who has full control over everything around us as we, who are in fellowship with Him, are in our passage through life? Nothing happens by chance to the believer. Instead, "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Rom. 8:2828And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28).
“He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven." Psa. 107:29, 3029He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 30Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. (Psalm 107:29‑30).
Nineteen hundred years ago a tropical storm lasted for two weeks in the Mediterranean Sea. Two hundred and seventy-six souls were in a ship in that tempest. One of them was the Apostle Paul who said, "I believe God," the One who had given him the lives of all that sailed with him in the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safe to land.
Storms there are, and as believers we all are tested, but let us remember our Lord's question, "Where is your faith?”
C. Buchanan