But God used Bonhoeffer in his storms. Christ in the stern, resting quietly, and calling us to rest in Him, reminds me that storms can bring fear or fresh faith.

It is about to be hurricane season again, down south of here, on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts I thought of them this week. I remember August 24th, 1992. That was when Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida. We were there. We lived in Coconut Creek, just west of Fort Lauderdale area. One of our professors, Dr. Reymond, Professor of Systematic Theology at Knox Theological Seminary, lived right near the ocean. It was clear that the storm would come his way. So we invited Dr. and Mrs. Reymond to our house.

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I will never forget when that great storm began to bear down on us, and the winds were whipping, and the trees were snapping, and the lights went out, and we huddled together in the center of our house, Mrs. Reymond looked down and pointed. "Bob is snoring!" Dr. Reymond was fast asleep. Mrs. Reymond looked at us and we all laughed. "He literally will sleep through a storm," she said. The well rested Dr. Reymond woke up later, but by that time the worst of it was over. Mrs. Reymond greeted her sleeping husband a little sarcastically and said, reminding me of Alice Cramdon talking to Ralph on the Honeymooners, "Well, Bob you just slept through the greatest natural disaster to ever hit North America." And do you know what that professor of theology said, "Well, ‘Shirley girl', a good conscience makes for a good night's sleep." We all laughed. But it was one of the best theology lessons he ever gave me.

"Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee" (Isaiah 26:3, KJV).

My beloved, here is the truth: our lives cannot be destroyed by the storms of fear, or hate, or divorce, or mistakes, or hurtful words, or diabolical deeds, or sin—since our souls are sustained by God's promises and power. This is what Paul meant when he wrote:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

Conclusion

So those are the lessons, my beloved:

(1) Public ministry depends on private moments.

(2) Ministry effectiveness is not dependent upon ministry efficiency, but on God's sovereignty.

(3) Our relationship with the Lord is not dependent upon our incessant labor but His steadfast love.

(4) Our lives cannot be destroyed by earth's wind and waves, since our souls are sustained by God's promises and power.