The video above will give you hope that God is at work to do you good even in the storms of life.
Storm theology begins with the dominion or the sovereignty of God no matter the cause of the storm.
You know some storms are just storms. Some storms we make, don’t we? Some storms are our storms. Some storms have the devil behind them. Other storms are God’s storms.
No matter the source of the storm God has dominion and is sovereign over it.
He [Peter] finishes by saying, “To him be the dominion forever and ever” (1 Peter 5:11 ESV).
The first step in storm theology is: God is in control.
So in verse 10, Peter explains this by saying, “And after you have suffered a little while…” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV).
Now, how long is “a little while”? Too long!
When you’re suffering, “a little while” is too long, and it always feels like God is too late.
But God is sovereign.
What we want that to say is, “To God be the dominion forever and ever and he will never let you suffer.” It’s what we want it to say. That is my kind of storm theology. It doesn’t say that.
“And after he has let you suffer”—he’s sovereign—”for a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ”—notice that our calling is to eternal glory. The story doesn’t end in the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 8:23-27).
“God is faithful to finish the work that he’s begun in us” (Philippians 1:6 paraphrased).
He’s “the author and the finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV).
He’s called us to glory, he’s gonna get us to glory.
“Who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself”—here’s what God’s gonna do after we’ve suffered a little while—”will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV). “Confirm, restore, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV).
What if God, in his great love for us, wants to do some really good things in our lives?
What if those things involve a work of restoration? What if they involve the work of confirming, strengthening, and establishing us in our faith in Christ?
And what if that work is accomplished through storms?
We want great work to be accomplished without resistance. That isn’t how work works.
What if you were a weightlifter and you lifted weights, and they didn’t weigh anything? Then it would be silly to be a weightlifter because they wouldn’t do anything! There’s only a work that is accomplished in lifting because there is a resistance that is there.
And therein is found the strengthening, the establishing, confirming, even the restoring.
What if there’s a good work that God wants to do in us and that work necessitates a furious storm now and again?