Wind (movement of air) is a very necessary part of God’s wonderful creation. It is the means of keeping air fresh, moving heat from the tropics, and exchanging it with cooler air from elsewhere. This is a benefit to all God’s creatures. Even fierce storms serve a purpose by bringing rain to quench the thirst of dry lands and relief from droughts. But such storms are not something to fly a kite in, but rather a time to go into a secure place until they blow over.
A tornado, sweeping across the sky in a threatening pitch-black funnel, is frightening to see. Where the funnel touches the ground anything in the way is destroyed. Homes and buildings are flattened and automobiles are thrown around like toys. Sometimes big boxcars are lifted right off railroad tracks and carried away. But strange things happen, too. Babies in their cribs have been picked up by such winds and later found, crib and all, safely resting in the fork of a tree, or some other place. Often a tornado will pick up a shed or barn, but skip right over the house next to it. We hope people who have such experiences thank God for His preserving care.
The two places that experience tornados most frequently are the midwestern United States and Australia, but they occur in other parts of America and the world as well. Sweeping across the ocean, the force of these funnels can lift great amounts of water to form spectacular waterspouts.
A tornado is apparently caused by the collision of great masses of cold and warm air mingling in the sky, forming something like a whirlpool. As this swirling mass of air grows larger and larger, it begins twisting violently about. The visible funnel soon forms, and where this touches ground the severe damage occurs.
These storms are a picture of Satan and his power of destruction in people’s lives. The Scriptures tell of instances in Bible days where people threatened by the wind were saved when they cried to the Lord. One instance is in Mark 4 when the Lord saved several boatloads of people from a fierce storm on Lake Galilee; the grateful passengers said, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Mark 4:4141And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4:41).
The Lord still delights to save all who call on Him when Satan attacks. This is referred to in Isaiah 25:44For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. (Isaiah 25:4): “For Thou hast been a strength... to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm... when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” Do not try to fight Satan by yourself. That is as useless as trying to stop a tornado by blowing on it. Go to the Lord Jesus with your troubles; ask Him to take your sins away, to shield you from Satan, and you will find Him willing to do so immediately.
ML-06/23/1985