The Safety In The Storm

The Midwest is deep in storm season, and tonight it’s in full force.

Tornado sirens are wailing. Hail is striking the windows. The wind is relentless, pressing against the house like it’s trying to find a way in. I am home, inside, loving every minute of it.

I’ve always loved storms.

When you grow up in the Midwest, thunderstorms are part of your story. You learn their routines. You learn their warning signs. Somewhere along the way, at least for me, you begin to find them fascinating.  

Of course, I have the luxury of enjoying a storm because I’m safe.

I have shelter and stability. I have a place of refuge that allows me to watch the sky churn without fear. I can sit and observe the power on display, the lightning splitting the sky, the wind bending trees, and I can do so knowing I am protected.

I love to watch a storm and think about God.  Isn't it comforting to think that every part of a storm answers to Him?

We can sometimes reduce God to something small, within the limits of our own understanding. But a storm has a way of correcting that perception for me. One fierce system, capable of leveling a home in seconds, reminds me how powerful He truly is.

Yet, He doesn’t use that awesome power to destroy us.  Instead, His power is held back by mercy, grace and love.

The Power of God

I came across a verse illustrating God's power this week.  Exodus 19:22 says "Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them."  

To understand the meaning of this verse in Exodus, let me share some context.

It had only been a few months since God rescued the Israelites from centuries of slavery in Egypt. After watching Him split the Red Sea, destroy Pharaoh’s army, and provide for them in the wilderness, they were now camped at the base of Mount Sinai.

Here God told Moses something astonishing: He was going to descend upon the mountain in a cloud and speak directly to Moses, in front of all of the people.  But there was a warning attached to His arrival.

No one was to come near.

Not the people.
Not even the priests.

If they approached the mountain carelessly, the Lord would break out against them.

Moses was permitted to approach because God had appointed him as the intermediary between Himself and His people. Here, we see both realities of God existing side by side, His terrifying power and His restraining mercy. He can unleash His full power, or He can hold it back in love as He did for Moses.

Just as God promised, He descended on the mountain a few days later.

A thick cloud covered the mountain. Thunder crashed. Lightning split the sky. Smoke billowed upward. The entire mountain trembled violently beneath the weight of His presence. Trumpet blasts sounded and grew louder and louder until the people were shaking with fear.

They finally begged Moses, “Do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

Moses was then called to climb into the mountain, disappearing into the thick cloud of smoke while the people watched from below. And there, on that trembling mountaintop, God spoke the Ten Commandments and gave Moses the stone tablets written by His own hand.

No generation has ever seen the power of God on display quite like Moses and the Israelites saw it that day.  It was miraculous, terrifying, holy, and pure, all existing at once.

The only parallel I have is a fierce Midwest thunderstorm beating against my windows so loudly I can hardly hear anything else.

The Love of God

When we begin to grasp the power of God, the miracle of Jesus becomes even more astounding.  Why would a God this powerful tolerate an earth so saturated with sin?  Why does He not simply wipe rebellion away?

These same Israelites who stood trembling at Mount Sinai, begging God not to speak directly to them, were worshipping a golden calf not long afterward. Even worse, they credited their worthless idol for delivering them from slavery in Egypt.

That is the repeated pattern of Scripture.  God loves His people.  His people rebel.  God restrains His wrath.  God continues His pursuit.

I keep returning to those words in Exodus this week: “the Lord will break out against them.”

Break out.

The phrase implies God is continually holding back what His holiness and justice would naturally unleash against sin.  His holiness is not soft or indifferent. It is powerful, pure, and inherently dangerous to everything sinful.

So when judgment does not immediately fall, it is not because God lacks the power to act.  It is because He is actively restraining that power.  Mercy is not weakness, it is power under control.  Every moment that God does not give us what our sin deserves is an act of deliberate love.

He continually chooses patience and restraint.  He continually chooses to leave room for repentance, redemption, and relationship.

Suddenly this is no longer just an Old Testament lesson happening on a mountain far away.  It becomes intensely personal.  

As human beings living in a broken world, we sin.  We fail, wander, and choose ourselves over and over.  Yet, every single day, God responds with restraint.  He is choosing not to break out against me and He is choosing not to break out against you. 

He shows mercy and love before judgment, not as a one-time act recorded on pages of scripture. It is an ongoing, active choice rooted in His character.  

How incredible the mercy of God remains, and yet, we rarely even notice.

Safety In the Storm

As the storm raged, I couldn't help but think about my safety.  I don't have the power to overcome the storm.  I don't have the ability to stop the winds or protect myself from flying debris.  I am safe because I am sheltered.

And isn't that all of our stories in Jesus?  Without Jesus, the storms of life do have the power to destroy us.  It is only by His blood that we are saved.  We don't have the power, ability or sometimes even the desire to save ourselves.

Jesus on the cross was God's full power under total control of mercy and love.  Who else has that kind of holiness?  What other God pours His life out for his creation?  The heart of Christianity is about what God did for us, and His unfathomable love.  

I spend much of my life exactly like I am spending this storm, safe inside blessings I did not build, protected by mercies I did not earn, covered by grace I often fail to notice.  Every breath I take is evidence of the restraint, patience, and love of God.

He has every right to break out in judgment.  

Instead, because of Jesus, He covers me.

What incredible mercy.

What incredible love.

And what an incredible God.