God Lessons in the Waves … He delivers His people

You split the earth with rivers; the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. 13.You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.

Habakkuk 3:9-10,13

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

Of the big lake they call ‘Gitche Gumee’

The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

When the skies of November turn gloomy.

—The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot

My memory of Lake Huron in the summer was that of relative calm. But my grandma could tell a tale or two of storms on the Great Lakes, particularly in November. The most famous to me was in 1975, immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot in his haunting ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The enormous freighter sank in winds of 58 knots gusting to 70 (1 knot = 1.15 mph), seas 18 to 25 feet high.

The Sea of Galilee has a similar topography to the Great Lakes, as the cooler winds dip down from the surrounding hills and whip the relatively warm water into a fury. Remember this: Jesus was sound asleep in the boat in such a storm, strong enough to petrify his fishermen disciples. He had to do nothing more than rebuke the winds and the waves to completely calm the seas. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27).

Why are we so surprised? The Creator of the wind and the waves would have no problem calming them. In his beautiful poetic way, Habakkuk got it right. Nature trembles at the sight of the Almighty.

Habakkuk also reminds us that God is, was, and will always be on the side of His people against wickedness. While the prophet is most certainly talking about God’s fight to deliver Israel, we see in his words the foreshadowing of Jesus’ battle with the devil.

As it became perfectly clear to God that we needed more than the law to become righteous, He sent the Savior to deliver us. Jesus, The Anointed One, has crushed the enemy, stripped him of all power.

God delivers! Jesus saves! Amen and Amen!

Nancy P