“The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” Psalm 29:3-4
I’ll never forget the morning. I was at the Pioneer Inn in Lahaina, Hawaii, having pancakes with 6 other men from the church. The restaurant sat right on the Lahaina Harbor and the view was stellar as we welcomed in yet another perfectly blissful Maui morning. But as we talked and collected prayer request from each other, the unexpected quickly happened. We all received warning texts at the same time, the klaxon sound effect from our phones ringing unwelcome in the island air. But we quickly noticed it was not only us but everyone in the entire restaurant receiving the same alert. The message it contained? “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” As we processed the message with great shock, we all began the same journey yet in different directions. We scrambled to find family and find shelter. As the storms, attacks, and threats of life mount, there is one solitary reaction, to find physical shelter and protection from the threat at hand. The announcement ended up being an amazingly bad accident but the next Sunday I more fully realized what seeking shelter really means…our church was full to overflowing. The fullest it had ever been.
Our God is a God of majesty, a God of wonder, a God of miracles, and yes, a God of storms. Psalm 29 is a poem of the power of God within the storm. As David looked to the northeast towards the building clouds with flashes of lightning lying within, he ascribed the power of the storm to the Lord. Psalm 29 is graceful in its presentation of the power of the storm but is ever more graceful in presenting the natural human reaction to the storm. To take shelter, to seek safety, to not only run from the danger but to find a place that is immune from the harm that lies within the storm. Physically David sat within the confines of the palace of Jerusalem during this storm, a building made of the finest and strongest cedar timbers in the land, the cedars of Lebanon. But as David sat below the timbers, hearing them creaking in protest of the storm, he relished in an amazing fact. The believer in Jesus Christ has not a physical place to run for shelter, but a place to seek spiritual shelter. King David knew...when the spiritual storms of life shake the very structure, those redeemed by Christ can rest in the protections of His loving arms.
That Sunday morning after the missile threat we at the church were completely unprepared for the crowd. The people flooded in like the text warning instead said that Jesus was coming instead of a missile. People of all walks, people of all colors, people of all ages. When the real threats of life appear (and thinking your about to be vaporized by an atomic weapon in 8 minutes fits the bill) the human heart will instinctually seek a place of spiritual safety. You see, the human heart has a code built into it that will deny itself and seek the very safety of its maker when the storm is deemed great enough. Today, don’t wait for a life-threatening event to occur to ascribe glory to the Lord. Don’t wait for the storms to tear apart your cedars before you bow before the Lord and attribute Him the power and majesty that is due Him. Today, humbly kneel before your Maker, your Creator, and your Lord and simply take shelter. Instead of only running to Him when the situation gets dire, choose to never leave Him in the first place. Reside in the safety, shelter, and security of the arms of the Lord. And as missile threats are inbound, you can simply say, Jesus if it is time for Heaven, I welcome the invitation to finally gaze upon your glory.
“The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; he cares for those who take refuge in him.” Nahum 1:7
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