July 22, 2002
CYBERCOLUMN:
Where was God when the 'twisting wind' came?
___By John Duncan
___I am sitting here under the old oak tree thinking of God. I wonder what he's doing today. Is he making it rain? Is he making hay while the sun shines? Is he watching children swim and build sandcastles near the white-capped waves of ocean shores? Has God ever done the dishes or the laundry in mounds a mile high? Does he like to watch such chores as they are done? Is God on vacation? Hey, didn't Jonah once think God had forgotten him? That God had not been thinking of him? "I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again unto Your hol
y temple" (Jonah 2:3). Have you ever wondered if God sees you?
___Here in Granbury, we have joined God in his work at Lakeside Baptist Church. We have been praying and giving, preaching and singing praise to God, and working and watching. Our new building in our new location has been under construction. Construction workers poured the concrete foundation. Walls joined hands and were raised. Roofers hoisted copper-colored sheet metal and made a glittering roof. A crane lifted the steeple to grand heights. Then, workers like bees began to buzz with things like light fixtures and painting and doors and carpet and tile in the preschool building because the floor needs to be easy to clean because we all know that babies make a mess when they spit up. We set "Opening Day," the first day in our new building, with grand festivities like those of baseball's opening day, except here the game's stakes are much higher. They have eternal repercussions.
___In the midst of all this preparation, a storm blew into town. Much debate about the storm ensued. Was it wind? An earthquake? A fire? Weather prognosticators called it a "twisting wind." Neighborhood watchers said, "It had to be a tornado." One old local boy said, "Whatever it was, it was something else!!!!" The preacher speculated that Harry Potter and his demonic urchins showed up. I wonder if God watched some kind of unseen spiritual warfare battle above the church on that day? After all, we wrestle not with flesh and blood but unseen spiritual forces, against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:10). Assuredly, I can tell you, that steeple was in a high place!
___The wind ripped the steeple off the roof, snapped it in two, and drove the steeple into the roof of the new church building. An upside-down steeple in the roof and a hole resulted. Rain dripped into the new building, although huge trash cans caught the dripping rain to minimalize the damage. We thank the Lord that no one was hurt. We press on toward our first services in the new building. We press on toward God's higher calling. We press on the upward way.
___So here I am under the old oak, tree thinking about God. Where was God while all this happened? I think he quietly passed by.
___"And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke it in pieces against the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice" (I Kings 19:11-12).
___God passed by to remind us that Harry Potter and Osama bin Laden and all the legions of destruction are not in control, but he is. God is at work. Are you listening to him? God is at work building his saints. In the words of George Herbert, "God bless the Architect Whose art, Could build so strong in a weak heart!"
___John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines.
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