Safe Within the Whirlwind

Some people called it the perfect storm, some  people called it Euroclydon. Regardless of it's name it caught them by surprise because the voyage began with a south wind gently blowing. Their intention was to use that wind to take them to their desired destination. They had planned to stay close to the shore but the gentle wind was replaced suddenly by a tempestuous wind.

The wind fell upon them and they gave way to it. They were driven by the storm far from the safety of the shore. The Typhonic wind ploughed the sea, and lifted up its waves. Caught in the whirlwind of this violent storm they had nothing stable beneath their feet. For fourteen long days and fourteen in-less nights they saw neither Sun nor stars. They were violently storm tossed and all hope that they would be saved was at last abandoned.

I have not been able to get this picture out of my mind. It's found at the end of the book of Acts. This tempestuous wind was what Paul encountered on his way to Rome. He was not outside God's will, in fact he was doing just what the Holy Spirit had instructed him to do. God did not remove Paul from the path of the storm but instead He gave him peace in the storm and in His sovereignty God used the tempestuous wind to take Paul to his destination.

Although we serve the Lord of the wind and the waves that does not mean that in the process we won't get wet and shiver from the cold. Paul himself said, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies." (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

Lord Jesus, You came to earth with the message of the kingdom of God and yet You told Your disciples that in this world they would have tribulation. Let me anchor my soul in the truth of Your kingdom and find peace in the reality that You are the Lord of the storm.