Storms of Sudden Tragedy

Message by
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Storm Winds

Job 1:18-19
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

Not Free of Tragedy

We do not live in a tragedy-free world.

Allowing this to be the reality in our lives may help with the start of the mourning process if tragedy hits in your life. This is not utopia or heaven. It is a world affected by sin and its consequences. When we start with the mindset that nothing bad can happen then there is a wider gap to overcome when tragedy hits.

Job Reacts

Job 1:20a
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head.

Mourning

Mourning is a natural reaction to tragedy.

5 Stages of Grief
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

God can handle your feelings.You can bring your complaints and questions to God. He’s big enough to handle your doubts, complaints, questions, and feelings. He’s even big enough to handle your anger. That’s why you can release your feelings to God. In Mt. 5:4, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Literally, God blesses those who mourn. So, it’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to mourn. God doesn’t expect you to be happy all the time. You can face your feelings honestly. You can release it all to God.
Although grieving is an individual experience, there are symptoms many people share after suffering personal loss:

Feels physically drained

Can't sleep at night

Forgetful and unable to think clearly

Noticeable change in appetite

Physical distress such as chest pains, headaches or nausea

Stays extremely busy to avoid thinking about his or her grief

Eats, drinks watches television, etc. excessively

Participates in harmful activities

Becomes withdrawn, lonely and apathetic

Frequent sighing and crying

Job Worshiped

Job 1:20b-21
Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Great and Good Lord

Even in tragedy, Job praised the Lord because he was confident that:
1. The Lord was Great.
2. The Lord was Good.

I believe he knew that if any good or healing or restoration would come, it would only be because of God’s greatness and goodness. Where else can we go? Our own strength?

2Ways to Help in Storms of Tragedy
1. Bear one another’s burden. Galatians 6:2
2. Be a comforter not a curser.

Friends in Tragedy

Job 2:11-13
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

How to not React

Job 2:9-10
His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

Comfort from God

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God".

Blessed after Tragedy

Life is not the same after a tragedy but it can be blessed.

More Blessed Later

Job 42:12
The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.

Heard and Seen

Job 42:5
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

A Hurricane Called Me

Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Running From the Lord

Jonah 1:1-3
The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Coming Storms

We can blind ourselves of a coming storm.

Running creates Storms

Jonah 1:4-5
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

We cause Storms

Some storms of life are caused by our disobedience.

Idea that storm was a curse or payment for something done wrong.

A Storm was a tool of God and Only stops through obedience or death.

God Disciplines

Hebrews 12:5-11
And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Discipline for Good

God’s discipline is for our good and produces righteousness and peace.

Our storms

Storms meant for us affect those around us.

Our Storms
1. Cost more money (fare for Tarshish)
2. Affected others (ship in trouble)
3. Scared them with storm
4. Endangered them
5. Heaped guilt on them for doing what was necessary

The Storms End

When we deal with our disobedience the storm will end.

Recognize

When we recognize God’s movement in storms, our lives are changed.God was able to answer prayers and chastise his son/prophet at the same time.

Other’s Should not be punished because of you

Jonah 1:13-15
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

The 2 Keys for Dealing with Our Disobedience
1. Repentance - turning toward God
2. Obedience - walking with God

Humble Yourself and Pray

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

The Deluge of Disillusionment

Message by
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Squall over the Sea

Mark 4:35-37 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

Storms

Jesus went through storms.

Jesus was Tempted

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.

Jesus Cares

Mark 4:38
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

Disillusioned

When Jesus doesn’t move like we want him to, we can get disillusioned.

A storm in your life isn’t an indication that …
1. God doesn’t love you.
2. God isn’t aware of your need.
3. God is powerless.

Jesus’ Calms

Mark 4:39
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
Jesus is the calmer of storms.

In the Beginning
Well the simple answer to that question is, "He is God because only God has such power over wind and waves." We shouldn't be surprised about that since we hear the testimony of John in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word," meaning Christ, "and the Word was with God, the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." That is to say that Christ, the Word, is the Creator of everything that exists. If He has the power to create it, He has the power to control it.

Christ Sustains
In Hebrews chapter 1 it speaks of God's Son who is appointed heir of all things, verse 2, "Through whom also He made the world." And then in verse 3 He upholds all things by the Word of His power. Here we are told that God made the world through the agency of Christ and Christ sustains it by His power.

All Things
In Colossians chapter 1, there is a similar testimony from the Apostle Paul where it tells us in verse 16, "By Him," that is by Christ, "all things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible. All things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. He is the Creator and the sustainer of the creation." That is the testimony of Scripture. And those are only samples of the kind of testimony that is repeated in the New Testament regarding Christ. Another one is 1 Corinthians 8 which tells us similarly that He is the one who has made everything that has been made. "There is but one God, one Father from whom are all things. We exist for Him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we exist through Him." He is the Creator of the universe, all things exist because He made them and all things are sustained because He sustains them.

Mighty, Faithfull, and Calming

Psalms 89:8-9
Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them.

The storm or the Follower

Sometimes Jesus calms the storm first, sometimes he calms the follower.

Wind and Waves obey

Mark 4:40-41
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Who Is Jesus

It is only in storms that we see who Jesus really is.
1. Healer - It is in the midst of the healing process where we see the healer.
2. Reconciler - It is in the separation that we see the reconciler.
3. Out of Ashes - It is in the ashes where we see him make things beautiful again.
4. Redeemer - It is in the ruin where we see the redeemer.
5. Calmer - It is in the storm where we see the calmer of the storm.

Action in the face of the Storm

Our understanding of Jesus will define our actions in a storm.

The Storms Are Coming

Message by Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

HOUSE ON ROCK OR SAND

Matthew 7:24-27
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

STORMS

Everybody will have storms in their lives.

RIGHTEOUS AN UNRIGHTEOUS

Matthew 5:45b
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Four Observations About Storms:

1. Storms are a part of life. No one is exempt from storms, (Even God-loving, God-fearing, God’s favorite Christians are not exempt!). If you are not in one or coming out of one right now, then one is coming.
2. Storms come in all shapes and sizes.
3. Storms can either make us or break us. Trials, tragedies, and misfortunes can either be a stepping stone or a stumbling block for us depending on our heart’s response.
4. Storms expose areas of weakness or unpreparedness in our lives. Trials, tragedies, and misfortunes expose our character to surface strength or weakness in our character. It is not when everything is going well that our true character is revealed but it is when things go wrong.

Foolish preparation brings a future fall.

What Jesus offers brings strength in times of storms.

BUILD ON THE FOUNDATION OF ROCK

Matthew 7:25
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

NARROW OR WIDE GATE

Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM GOD

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Storms will tear down any Christ-less foundation. What is your foundation?

People are like teabags. You never know how strong they are until they are placed in hot water.

George MacDonald a Scottish writer and man of faith, who influenced writers like C.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and Oswald Chambers wrote… “God left the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity still in the cloud, the oil still in the earth. How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.”