By Julia Ewert | August 26, 2021

Storm Preparation #1: Never demand that God act or tell Him what to do.

Introduction

With a tremendous roar, the wave crashed into the rock outcropping, sending an explosion of white foam and a saltwater spray two hundred feet toward the sky. As it hit its pinnacle it seemed to stop in midair for just a moment before it came crashing down, sending a salty mist over us as we sat tucked into the stunted tree at the top of the hundred-foot cliff. It was winter at Shore Acres State Park just outside of Charleston, Oregon and David and I had rushed to the coast to experience a ferocious ocean storm.

The cliff one hundred feet above the Pacific was the perfect location to watch the majesty of God’s creation show off it’s glorious, savage power. As the waves erupted like grand fireworks over our heads, we marveled at the glory of God’s creation and at His grace that allowed us a front row seat to this incredible performance.

The verse from Jeremiah 5:22 came to mind as we marveled at the grace and power of God. “’Do you not fear Me?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal limit, and it will not cross over it. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; Though they roar, they will not cross over it.’”

As we sit down to record our memoirs, this picture of the wild Pacific Ocean seems a fitting backdrop to the work God has done in our lives. It is wonderful to sit by the ocean on a quiet day and visit with friends, watch the children play in the sand, or just let the quiet soak into your weary bones. But the quiet can lull you.

I remember one of our first explorations at Shore Acres. We followed paths that wound through the ravines, gloried in the tide pools on Simpson Beach, and climbed down the rocks to get as near the water as we could. The day was so restful and refreshing . . .until . . .David stepped out from behind a large rock and a wave hit him. The force of the water almost knocked him over but even more powerful was the under-currant that tried to drag him out into the ocean. It was terrifying as his thought was “Oh no! I’m going to die!”

It wasn’t until we experienced the fierceness of the waves and we began to understand the incredible power they contained that our love of the ocean really began. We became enthralled with its power and developed a deep respect and awe for its magnificence, whether it was showing us its tremendous intensity during a storm or healing us with its restorative calm. No matter what the occasion or whether the weather cooperated or not, the greatness of the ocean always led us to praise of our incredibly creative God who gave it its power and beauty.

An important thing about storms at the ocean is that there is usually time to prepare for them. Shutters are closed, campgrounds empty, and gale warnings are posted. We’ve learned that God often does that with storms that come into our lives.

The first major storm preparation we encountered came two months before our fourth anniversary. We, with our infant daughter, Jennifer, were living in Omaha, Nebraska. David had graduated from Bible college two years before and was working as a telephone line splicer while we figured out what ministry God had for us. We found it. We accepted a place with T.E.A.M. Missions to run a camp for them on the island of Aruba. Now came to task of getting ready for that transition. We had lived near my parents in Nebraska since before we were married, so we wanted to be near David’s parents in Washington for a while before we moved out of the country.

We sold our car and purchased a used farm pickup—complete with a stock rack—to carry all our stuff to Washington. Since summers are terrible in Nebraska—hot and humid—and since the truck did not have air conditioning, we decided to drive at night when it was cooler, and sleep during the hottest part of the day. We loaded everything we owned on the truck, even leaving down the tailgate and piling stuff up on it. We must have looked like the Beverly Hillbillys going down the road! We left Omaha around 10 PM, heading west toward Washington, traveling on Interstate 80.

Our family tradition is to pray as we begin to travel, so I prayed. I thanked God for the cool evening and thanked Him for the lessons He was going to teach us as we drove. God heard that prayer and answered, “Oh, you want to learn something as you drive? Well here is the lesson for the trip.” (Of course, in hindsight, I’m just imagining that’s what He thought!) About 75 miles down the road, one of our back tires blew. David pulled the pickup to the side of the Interstate and jumped out to change the tire. He couldn’t. Our load was so heavy that the truck sagged, and David was not able to fit the jack under the truck to raise it up so he could change the tire.

Nebraska can be pitch black at night, especially on the road between towns and away from farm lights. David did not want to walk anywhere for help and leave me and our infant daughter alone on the Interstate, so we decided to pray. “Father, make someone stop to help us,” was our prayer. Four hours later, our prayer was getting frantic, “Father MAKE SOMEONE STOP TO HELP US!” Then the lessons began that were our biggest preparation for all the storms that came latter in our lives.

Preparation Number One: Never demand that God act or tell Him what to do.

I can’t really say it was an audible voice, but David and I heard it at the same time. God answered our prayer by declared, “You are telling Me what to do.”

We looked at each other in shock! That had been the exact motivation of our hearts—our utter helplessness and obvious need caused us to frantically insist God help us in the only way we could see an answer coming! Joining hands, we bowed our heads and asked God to forgive us for demanding He make someone stop. Our prayer changed to this: “Father, forgive us for our attitude of believing we could command You to act. We are here with no ability to help ourselves and know You see us and love us. Please help us in any way You choose. Thank You for Your care and love.”

As we said “Amen,” a sheriff’s car, a state police car, and a semi-truck pulled up behind us. David jumped out the truck and met them saying, “Do you know you’re an answer to prayer?” They helped get the tire changed and we got back on the road.

The next town was York, Nebraska, so we pulled into a station to get the tire fixed. They informed us that the two back tires were not strong enough to bear up under the huge load we were carrying, so we purchased two new tires. The sun was just coming up as we pulled back on the Interstate to get on our way. As we drove down the road, David turned to me and said, “Do you think we can trust these new tires to get us to Washington?” I happily replied, “Yes.” Bang! One of the new tires blew! Preparation lesson number two had begun.