“When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation” (Proverbs 10:25 NKJV). Tornado season is upon the land and the hurricane season for the year now begins. The weather is very much a topic of talk among all people whether it be tempestuous or tranquil. However, there are storms of life that come that have nothing to do with the weather. Solomon addressed such a thought in Proverbs 10:25. Consider some thoughts about the storms of life.
Storms Trouble All People
The difficult times of life are not excluded from anyone. Job said long ago, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). Jesus Himself stated, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). Both the wise man who built his house on the rock and the foolish man who built his house on the sand faced the following: “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house” (Matthew 7:25, 27). Sin and its consequences brought the troubles all face. It is the righteous who know that their sustainer and protector is God.
Storms Test the Quality of the Person
One does not know how strong he is until the tests of life come. Solomon also wrote, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small” (Proverbs 24:10). The Lord said to Jeremiah who was struggling with the prosperity of the wicked (Jeremiah 12:1-4), “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5). Small tests reveal the need for improvement and prepare for the bigger tests that come throughout life. David saw the greatness of the power of God to defeat Goliath in view of smaller tests that he faced. He stated, “Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:36). The disciplined life of a child of God ultimately will show forth “the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12 :11).
Storms Tell the Truth About the Person
There are many who feign to be true to the Lord but are exposed for what they are when the storms of life come. Jesus said of two kinds of leadership:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know my sheep, and am known by my own. As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:11-15)
Paul stated to the Corinthian brethren, “For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you” (1 Corinthians 11:18-19). Storms truly reveal the caliber of people.
