In 2004, four successive hurricanes battered Florida, Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. We could see them coming, but there was nothing we could do to stop the storms. People prepared their property, evacuated the area, then the storms came. They flooded blew buildings over and wreaked billions of dollars of damage. If you are trapped in the path of a violent storm, whether a hurricane or a tornado, it can be a dangerous and frightening experience, but sometimes storms uncover hidden treasures.
A wonderful treasure was discovered on the beaches of Florida after Hurricane Jeanne. Joel Ruth came across 180 near-mint-condition silver coins, Spanish pieces of eight worth more than $40,000. The coins were from a Spanish treasure fleet of about a dozen ships that were destroyed by a hurricane in 1715. Now, 289 years later, another hurricane momentarily uncovered a portion of this treasure that had washed ashore. It took a hurricane like Jeanne—a storm responsible for some of the worst destruction in recent history to Florida’s coast—to bring that slice of shoreline back to where it was nearly 300 years before. The storm exposed an impressive treasure to the one who went looking for it. Isn’t that like life? Oftentimes, storms are required to uncover hidden treasures, if we are willing to look.
Life is kind of like the weather. Sometimes our lives are full of pleasant sunny experiences. At other times, our lives can be cloudy and dreary and at times we all will face storms in our lives. Storms in our lives are times when the unexpected happens, when circumstances outside of our control buffet our lives, throwing things around. Storms in our lives can be caused by all kinds of things. A life storm might be problems in a relationship or the fracturing of a relationship through divorce or death. A life storm could be a major health problem. A life storm could be a job loss or a financial setback. A life storm could be a crisis in your relationship with God. Life storms are frightening just like physical storms and often there’s not much we can do to change them, we must just go through them.
A miracle is a supernatural manifestation of the power of God, it something outside the natural course of things. If you ever find yourself in the path of a hurricane, you are going to need a miracle of protection from God. And when you find yourself in the middle of a life storm, you are going to need a miracle from God to make it through the storm. When storms hit our lives we usually just want God to make them go away but that rarely happens immediately, we’ve got to go through them. And as we go through the fear and anxiety of life storms, God offers peace to us. NIV John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus wants you to have peace as you go through the storms of life.
In the exact center of a hurricane is an unusual zone called the eye of the hurricane. The winds are calm in the eye of the hurricane, the temperature is moderate, there are no clouds, you can see straight up into the sky. It is a place of peace. God want you to find his peace in the eye of the hurricanes of life.
To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 17, 2005 message entitled Experience Supernatural Peace