A thunderstorm moved through the area last night. It never thunders here … so it was particularly impactful listening to the power of the thunder rumbling throughout the skies! The downpour was intense!
Around the time the sun was setting, the storm moved on and the sky cleared just enough for the light of the setting sun to try to make it through the fog and mist and clouds. The sky turned an intense shade of bizarre foggy yellowish-grey!
After a bit, this then slowly faded into a glowing shade of misty foggy pinkish-purple … back-dropped by the deep intense shades of stormy grey in the distance over the mountains.
I stepped out onto the back deck to take a picture of the bizarre-colored sky and was all-at-once captivated by the sight of the sunflowers against the stormy sky in the background.
Sunflowers in the storm.
There will be times in our lives when we will go through “storms.” I’m thinking in particular of relational “storms.” You know … “that particular person” who makes your life utterly miserable!
There is a whole lot of “thunder” you would really like to say in the “stormy” situation!
But … God’s clear instructions to you are: “Wait on me … and keep your mouth shut!”
In Joshua, chapter 6, God’s people were in a “stormy” situation. God was leading them to take possession of the inheritance He had prepared for them. But they found themselves facing high walls of a defensive city.
Do you ever feel like you are facing “high walls” in trying to relate to someone who is very defensive?
God’s instructions to the people facing Jericho were: Wait on Him … and keep their mouths shut! (Joshua 6:10)
And … ultimately it was God who gave the victory … in His own timing … in His own way!
In Exodus 14:13-14, God’s people found themselves trapped in a “stormy” situation, closed in upon by people who wanted to take advantage of them.
Do you ever feel trapped in a “stormy” situation, and “closed in upon” by someone who is taking advantage of you?
God’s instructions to the people were: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
And God took care of the situation!
In Isaiah, chapters 36-37, King Sennacherib invaded the land and came to conquer the city of Jerusalem. As part of his conquest strategy, he sent messengers to read aloud a letter of intimidation in the hearing of all the besieged people.
Isaiah 36:21 states: “But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, ‘Do not answer him.’”
Once again, in a desperate “stormy” situation, God’s instructions to His people were: Wait on Him … and keep their mouths shut! God would deliver them!
And He did! In great might and great power!
Even Jesus Himself, in the “stormiest” suffering of all kept His mouth shut!
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.” – Isaiah 53:7
And in the end … Jesus conquered! Jesus defeated the “storm” of Satan, sin, death, and hell!
When we are in a “stormy” situation, relationally … there is a whole lot of “thunder” we would really like to say!
But, God’s instruction to us is: Wait on Him … and keep our mouth shut!
God can … and will … take care of the situation!
In His own timing … in His own way!
And just like these “silent” sunflowers stand out brilliantly in contrast to the dark stormy skies in the background … so also our “silence” in the face of the “storm” will likewise stand out in brilliant contrast … as we wait on God … and keep our mouth shut!
“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” – Psalm 27:14
“It is mine to avenge; I will repay.” – Deuteronomy 32:35
“’It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” – Romans 12:19
