I sat on the front porch, Bible in hand, enjoying my quiet time with the Lord as I poured out my heart to Him. I noticed a storm cloud coming over the ridge. Dark. Ominous. The wind kicked up bringing refreshing cool air with its breeze.

I went back to reading. Praying. Crying out to the Lord.

From the corner of my eye a bright light flashed. Immediately the earth trembled with roaring thunder.

And immediately, I trembled, scooped my Bible and coffee into my hands and ran indoors.

Ironically, or perhaps with divine intention, my Bible plopped open to Nahum as I settled on the couch,

“The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nahum 1:3).

I’m very familiar with “the clouds are the dust of His feet.” In fact, that’s one of my favorite images Scripture presents as evidence of God’s presence.

But consider the beginning of that verse, “The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm … “

” … in the storm …”

Interesting.

I ran from the storm into the safety of what was familiar to me — my home.

I often run to familiarity when faced with life storms, too.

But … if “the Lord has His way in the storms and the clouds are but the dust of His feet,” what would happen if I — if we — ran towards the storm knowing the Lord is there? What if we approached the storm with boldness and not with fear or dread?

What if we are so familiar with God that we automatically run to Him even when He comes in the storm?

In My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers said, “God cannot come near without clouds, He does not come in clear shining.” We cannot look directly on His presence because of His sheer brilliance. Throughout Scripture, we are told “God dwells in the dark cloud.” Whenever He approached humanity, God clothed Himself in a cloud.

Oswald Chambers goes on to say, “It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials: through every cloud He brings, He wants us to unlearn something.

“His purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child — God and my own soul, other people are shadows. Until other people become shadows, clouds and darkness will be mine every now and again. Is the relationship between myself and God getting simpler than ever it has been?”

Again … interesting.

I’m trying to understand this.

It seems that Chambers is saying that God wants us to understand that HE is with us always. Even in the storms — especially in the storms. Just me and Him. Together. Held in His hand near to His heart … in the Secret Place of the Most High.

No thing or no one else really matters. Just me and Him.

He wants us to recognize this truth so that we run to HIM instead of to our familiar places.

And if that is so, then the Lord uses the storms and clouds to open our eyes to see Him in His fullness. Where we sense darkness, it is but the shadow of His wing.

A cross-reference took me to Psalm 18. David is writing these words on the day the Lord delivered him from his enemies. In verse 6, David writes,

“In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

“Then the earth shook and He bowed the heavens and came down with darkness under His feet. He rode upon a cherub, and flew upon the wings of the wind, making the darkness His secret place. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice” (Psalm 18:7-13).

Wow! Sounds like a storm to me.

As David witnessed this heavenly storm, he tells us in verses 16- 19 that the Lord drew him out of many waters and delivered him from his strong enemy because the enemy was too strong for him. David tells us that the Lord was his support and He brought him out into a broad place and delivered David because He delighted in him.

God came to David in the power of the storm.

Through the strength of His might, God sets us free and delivers us from the clutches of the enemy — when we cry out to Him. When we are in a rich relationship with the Father, He becomes our familiar place — our strong tower and place of safety

Yes! The Lord has His way in the storm.

Selah

****************************************************

Thank you so much for stopping by. I would love for you to share what’s on your heart in the comments below. Scroll a little farther down and you’ll see where you can leave your comments. Together, we can find the nearness of God in our darkest moments.

Sweet blessings to you,

NAN