In those days, we didn’t have cell phones, and we hadn’t checked the weather report before we left. We pitched our tent by a lake and were enjoying fellowship when we noticed black clouds approaching. At sunset, it started pouring, and within minutes we were in the middle of a dangerous storm. Wind was blowing 30-40 miles an hour and lightning was striking around our tent every few seconds. Psalm 91:5 refers to the “terror by night.” This was it!
As it kept thundering with loud booms, I actually thought we were going to die. I even envisioned the headline of our local newspaper: “Local Pastor and Elders Struck by Lightning. See Obituary, page 2.” I had never been this close to dying.
Then I remembered the disciples panicking in the boat on the Sea of Galilee when the terrible storm hit (Mark 4:35-41). Jesus asked them, “How is it that you have no faith?” They didn’t believe God was in control of the storm, and now that we were in the same boat, neither did we! Their fear of dying kept them from having faith in God.
“Listen, guys,” I told my friends. “The disciples probably felt like we do when they thought their boat was going to sink. God knows if this is our time to die.” We prayed together and then we started praising God as thunder boomed around us. Instantly supernatural peace filled our hearts and we weren’t afraid anymore.
Thirty minutes later, the storm had passed, and none of us died. But from that experience of “the terror by night,” we learned something we had only known in theory before. If you’ll praise God in the middle of the storm, God’s peace will fill your heart and your fear will leave. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net
