“The angel said to the woman, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus . . . ” 
                                                      --Matthew 28:5

This hurricane season has been one of the worst on record. The Eastern part of the United States has been hit with one deadly, destructive storm after another. Our hearts grieve with those who have lost loved ones. We weep with those who have lost everything from businesses to homes to cars to personal keepsakes. Our minds reel with the overwhelming task of the cleanup. We know that millions of lives will never be the same.

While our newspapers are filled with stories and pictures of the storms’ reign of terror, many people across our nation and the world are experiencing
storms that are just as devastating, yet not as obvious:
   Storms of divorce, disease, or death
        Storms of betrayal, bankruptcy, or blindness.
               Storms of abuse, adultery, or addiction.
        Storms that leave shattered lives and broken
             hearts and shredded hopes.
   Storms that turn dreams into nightmares.

What storms have swept through your life -- or the life of someone you love? As devastating as they are or have been, could it be that God has allowed them to break out for the greater purpose of giving you a fresh vision of Jesus? The Psalmist declares that “He… rides on the wings of the wind.”¹ Could it be that Jesus is “riding” into your life on the “wings of the wind” of your storm? His very presence can turn your stormy nightmares into “visions” of His glory.

God overcame barriers of culture, distance, and language, communicating His love to those who attended Just Give Me Jesus Puerto Rico in June. Georgina Gonzales translated for me with power and poise, as though her words were a Spanish echo. When the invitation was given, hundreds responded by coming to the cross and getting right with God.

The prophet Isaiah experienced something of a “nightmare” when his relative, King Uzziah died. But his “nightmare” turned into a “vision of His glory” when Isaiah looked up and saw the Lord! As a result, he repented of his sin, returned to the altar for cleansing, and recommitted his life to serving God.² His relationship with God was revived and he went on to become the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

Ezekiel was another Biblical character whose life was seemingly overwhelmed by disaster when he was captured by the Babylonians and taken eight hundred miles east of Jerusalem, then discarded in a refugee camp. The very year that he would have fulfilled his lifelong dream of entering the priesthood, he was stuck on a garbage dump beside a dirty irrigation canal. Then, to make a bad situation worse, a windstorm swept into his life. But at the center of his storm was “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.”³ Ezekiel fell face down before the Lord in total surrender. Although his circumstances remained unchanged, his nightmare ended as his life took on new purpose and meaning in the midst of his captivity. He became one of the major prophets of the Old Testament.

Similar to Isaiah and Ezekiel, the apostle John was hit with disaster when he was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he suffered “for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”⁴ At the end of his illustrious life -- having been a disciple of Jesus, an evangelist to the world, a church planter and pastor -- he was cut off from friends and family, companions and church. Yet he was not cut off from God. He was “in the spirit on the Lord’s day” when he heard a loud voice speaking to him. When he turned around to see the voice that was speaking, he saw someone “like a son of man.”⁵ When he fell at the feet of Jesus as though dead, he was commissioned to write down the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave so that believers of every generation might be encouraged and have hope.

The Pacific Northwest is the most secular part of the United States with approximately 9% of the population attending any church. Imagine my awe at seeing the Key Arena filled Friday night and all day Saturday with thousands of women who came to receive a fresh touch from heaven--and did! To God Be the Glory!

The pattern in the life of each of these men was the same: their problem, pain, and pressure; their stress, suffering, and sorrow; their crisis, confusion, and cry; their despair, difficulty, and disaster -- were forerunners to their own personal glimpse of God’s glory in the person of Jesus Christ. As a result of their vision, their lives fell dramatically in line with God’s greater purpose, and they were each powerfully used to reveal His glory to others.
In a world besieged by environmental storms, personal storms, political storms, and national storms, you and I may need to be reminded not to be afraid, but instead, to look in the midst of the storm for a fresh vision of the glory of Jesus.

Moody Broadcasting Network carried Just Give Me Jesus Chicago live on their 80 stations in the US, and streamed the full program on the internet. With a dozen reporters and technicians on site, they articulated with sensitivity and eloquence what was taking place in the United Center--while allowing the actual messages to be broadcast without interruption. Heartfelt thank yous have been received from people all over the world, each testifying to how powerfully the Spirit moved well beyond the walls of the arena, bringing them joy, peace and hope.

Recently I talked with a very godly man who described his family’s own storm that broke out when his son-in-law dumped his daughter and week-old grandbaby on his front doorstep -- then left. Permanently. When the former son-in-law’s life spiraled out of control and self-destructed, this wise father had eyes to see that, as painful as the abandonment was, God had spared his family the humiliation of public disgrace which the son-in-law subsequently endured. And the family glimpsed “His glory.”

If a storm has broken out in your life, would you ask God to open your eyes to His greater purpose that has allowed it for your own ultimate good? ⁶Ask Him to reveal to you a vision of His glory that you, in turn, might impart it to others through…
the way you react and respond,
    the way you live and give,
         the way you talk and walk,
              the way you endure and
                  encourage,
                   the way you comfort and 
                     challenge,
                       the way you witness and worship,
the way you persevere in your faith and love and hope.

When the storm unleashes its fury, let this AnGeL reassure you, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus.”

To God alone be all the glory!

¹ Psalm 18:10; ² Isaiah 6; ³ Ezekiel 1; ⁴ Revelation 1:9; ⁵ Revelation 1:10, 13;
⁶ Romans 8:28