“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” (Na 1:3 AV)
This is easy to remember when there is no whirlwind or storm. Quite another when we are in the midst of one. We understand the whirlwind and storms mentioned above are representative of the pending judgment on Nineveh for their treatment of Israel. That is the theme of the book of Nahum. It is also prophetical in that history will repeat itself. God controls all things. Especially those things that are out of man’s control. Hard as they might try, mankind can do little to affect the weather. We may be able to initiate a catastrophe, but we cannot control it. This verse points to the coming return of Christ wherein Israel’s enemies and the enemies of Jesus Christ will be destroyed. As an observer, this has to impact Israel. Like the plagues of Egypt, they will be affected by the storm and whirlwind. Not directly, but when things seem out of control, it will cause a bit of anxiety. The LORD will care for them just as He always has. God controls the uncontrollable. It is in His hand.
Several years ago, something terrifying happened and it was evident God was in control of something uncontrollable. When it comes to driving in wintry weather, Yankees tend to give Southerners a hard time. When there is snow or a threat of snow, our warmer friends tend to hunker down like it is the apocalypse. My wife and I used to go shopping in this kind of weather because we knew how to drive in it and were certain we would have the roads all to ourselves. One such morning we were off to Nashville, TN. We went there often. Usually on some sort of errand or on our way to see relatives. On this particular morning, there was a black ice advisory. In the North, that is not as big a deal as in the South. In the north, black ice is usually covered with enough snow to give the driver traction. In the south, not so much. We were on Highway 24. Because of the weather, I was driving about ten to fifteen miles under the speed limit. We went over several bridges with no problems. Most of them were short enough that the heat of the embankments and roads beneath kept them thawed. But I hit a bridge that was twice to three times as long as many others. I immediately felt the car begin to slide. I took my foot off the gas. I let the steering wheel freely move. The worst thing you can do is fight against the ice. I was sliding more than driving. The potential of losing complete control and ending horribly was staring me in the face. A quick prayer went up. We slid over that ice with very little variance. When I hit dry pavement, there was a slight jarring of the car, but nothing terribly alarming. God kept my potential out-of-control situation under control.
The thing about whirlwinds and storms is there is little if anything we can do about it. They are forced infinitely bigger than ourselves. We cannot lasso a tornado. We cannot calm a storm. As much as mankind wished he could, he could do nothing to dissipate a hurricane. Life is like this. There are times when we feel everything is out of our control. For us, my wife’s cancer diagnosis was one of them. When the doctor speaks the ‘C’ word, immediately you enter a whirlwind of emotions, hypotheticals, treatments, and doctor’s appointments. Just the other day, at a cancer support group meeting, one individual remarked out a three-month hiatus from tests and appointments felt like he had won the lottery. We felt the same way when our Oncologist told us she didn’t need to see Lisa for another four months. We looked at each other and asked, “Now what do we do?” God has the tiger by the tail. He holds the whirlwind in His hand. To Him, the storm is a passing raindrop. The thing is, the more we try to fight the storm, the larger it seems to be and can even grow. The smart thing is to let God and allow God to be God. He is the only one who can control the whirlwind.
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