Standing in the Whirlwind

By Bob Mumford

Battle the Attacker: It's then you must raise your fist at Satan and say, "Not so! I remember when the prophetic word came. I remember when I was sick with flu and thought I was going to die and went in and laid down on the living room couch and said,'Lord, Jesus, heal me'; and the Holy Spirit came and healed the flu right there. I remember financially, physically..." The minute you start remembering, Satan has to flee.

Then David said, "...I meditate on all thy works... " Or, think about the way God does things. Do you know God's ways are not like our ways? We say that, yet we get mad when he doesn't do things the way we think he should. I said, "Lord, here I am," and the devil jumped on me with both feet. So God says, "Okay, just think about my works."

So, I begin to meditate on God's works and say, "Lord, I don't really understand why this situation is like this, but Lord I know this. Your ways are not my ways. I understand the enemy is trying to press me out of shape and trying to cause me to accuse you of unrighteousness. But Lord, I know your ways are always right. Even if I don't understand them, I worship you."

Try that on for size the next time the whirlwind swirls around you. It will give you a foundation so firm nothing can move you from it. "...I muse on the work of thy hands." Now, what is that? One night I went out in the backyard on an evening when there must have been ten million stars. I thought, "God, if you could put all those stars up there, you could help me." So I looked at creation and do you know what happened? As I learned to understand God as creator--the creator of heaven and earth, the sea and the land and all that is in them-I got a vision of God that was bigger than all my problems. "God, I thank you that you are creator."

I heard about an atheist student who didn't believe there was a God. So he went to his Christian professor. The professor said, "If you want to get a vision of God just go out in the backyard and say, 'God, if there is a God, I want to know you."' So the young man tried it. He came back the next day and the professor said, "How did you make out?" He said, "I felt like a fool." The professor said, "That's a good revelation for the beginning. "

Do you know where I got the faith to believe God for one semester's tuition at Bible School? I was praying one day and reading the Psalms. I found where it says, The Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills. I said, "Lord, why don't you sell one of those cows and pay my bill?" My faith was strengthened and before the deadline I had the cash for my tuition in my hands.

God knows where you are. He knows the enemy has crowded you. He said, "Not a sparrow falls to the ground without me knowing it." I believe that when I comb my hair he sees the eight strands that fall out.

Remembering, meditating, and musing are three aspects of the internal life. These things stop the downward spiral. Next David says, "I stretch forth my hands unto thee." The Hebrew meaning of this is, "I stretch forth my hands like a little boy waiting for his father to pick him up." There is not a father alive who can resist that. It is not by human strength or human wisdom you stand. It is by God's grace and power.

"...My soul thirsteth after thee, like a land that is so dried out it has big cracks in it." Have you ever seen a lake that is all dried up? Big cracks appear. It is begging for water. This is the process. You have eliminated the circumstances that are destroying you. Instead of tangling with the devil you now begin to open your heart to God; "God, I remember when you healed me and delivered me. I understand the works of your hands. I understand if I hunger and thirst after righteousness, I shall be filled. I want to come back from this dry, barren place into your presence."

This is the normal Christian life we are approaching. We are supposed to live in Romans 8, not just visit it. You are learning how to stand in the whirlwind because you have responded to God in a proper way.

"...Hear me..." the psalmist says next. I don't know whether I have the courage to state here what I really think, lest it be misunderstood, but here goes. Prayer is not a cure all. There are some things you don't have to pray about. Praying about them only leads to frustration. There is a time to remember, and there is a time to pray.

Many Weapons: When it comes to the business of praying, some people like to snap their fingers believing it is done. But wait. Go through the New Testament very carefully and you will see there are a variety of weapons. Prayer is only one of them. I am a man who prays and I understand the validity of "the effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much..." I understand all of that, yet why didn't David begin to pray in the beginning of his whirlwind crisis? Why, like the little tyke who had his prayer on the wall, didn't he say, "See that, Lord!" and jump into bed? There are times when prayer just does not come forth. There are times when the Holy Spirit has to come on you and pray with his own groanings, with things that cannot be uttered. We have been in situations where all we could say was, "Oh, God! Jesus! Jesus," knowing only that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

"Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth." In other words, "I am in a situation where you had better hear me." I am so glad David was honest with God. He told God exactly how he felt and so can we. True relationships are based on honesty.

"...hide not your face from me..." Have you ever prayed to an empty room, saying, "Lord, where are you?" No answer. Nothing. "Lord, there is no use hiding from me. I know you are there."

David knew God was watching this entire thing. He knew God was saying, "Well, would you look at that. The devil's got David. Oh, oh, David is sinking. Oh, David, you had better stand."

David said, "I will Lord, I will. Lord I remember. I muse. I meditate. I know your ways, God. I know you are the creator, God. I know you don't let anything come upon my life if I don't need and which is not necessary."

Then he says, "Lord, I've done my part. Please come quick. Hear me speedily and don't hide your face from me."

God's face is synonymous with his manifest Presence - that feeling, sensing, enjoying the Presence of the Lord. What God had done was to lift his Presence from David. No wonder, David cried out, "Lord, don't hide your face from me. Please God, I am standing right there by faith. Father, I stretch my hands to you, my soul thirsts like a dry thirsty land. Hear me, don't hide your face from me."

There are two elements in God hearing you. "Cause me to hear and cause me to know." That means we must look to God alone as the one able to make us know and hear. We get into this situation by hungering and thirsting for God, saying, "God, in this thing I want you to hear me, and cause me... for in thee do I trust."

In the New Testament the same greek word is used for "believing" and "trusting," but there can be a difference between the concepts of believing and trusting. Believing is active; it is something you do. Trusting is passive; it is something you hold on to. When you are unable to believe, you are required by God to trust. "Lord, I don't know Lord what you are doing, but I trust you."

I heard about a man who wanted to teach his nine-year-old son about the business world. "Son," he said, "climb up on the eight-foot step ladder and jump. Daddy will catch you."

So the boy climbed, jumped, and the daddy stepped back and his son hit the ground. "Son," the father said to the bruised child, "the first lesson in the business world is don't trust anybody."

But you know something. I have jumped off some eight-foot step ladders and my Father has always caught me, although on several occasions it was only a quarter of an inch from concrete. But I've learned to trust Him. We believe as long as we can, then we start trusting. Do you see the difference?

"Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee." The reason the whirlwinds come is to blow us into a direct and personal relationship with God. As Hebrews says, "shaking us until only the unshakable remains." The Lord wants to wean us from things and people and situations around us, forcing us into a relationship with Himself.

The next prayer is come is to "deliver me." Anybody who has gotten this deep into a hassle with the enemy probably needs deliverance. But that is not exactly what David is saying. He is saying, "Lord, I want to come out of this situation clean, without the smell of smoke on me." The normal Christian life is to walk openly in victory with righteousness, healing and prosperity over the whole life. "Deliver me, Oh Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me."

"Teach me..." Deliverance without teaching is a very dangerous thing. One of the greatest problems we have is people who say, "Well, you don't know what problems that caused." I have found over some years of experience that where good teaching follows deliverance, people rise up and walk in joy and victory.

"Lead me into the land of uprightness." The RSV declares, "Lead me on a level path." In other words, "Lord when I get out of this, I would like for you to adjust my whole way of life so that it would be just on a level path. I don't care to go through this one again."

"Quicken me, make me alive, fill me with joy." The word "quicken" means to make alive, to fill with joy, to overflow the soul with all the goodness of God. Did you know that every time the Lord leads you through a very harrowing experience, the next thing he does is pull out the stopper and pour it on you? Yes, he inundates you with good things. "And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul; for I am thy servant."

So here's how to stand in the whirlwind. Remember. Muse. Meditate. Stretch forth. Have a thirsty soul. These things stop the wind from blowing. Then we learn to pray the prayers of Psalm 143.

This is not a drill. This is the real thing. As we come closer to the throne of God, as we walk that narrow road of obedience (which grows more narrow at each step) the winds blow harder. School children in the midwest often go through "tornado drills." They march outside and down into the storm cellar, or they are taught how to get under their desks. They are drilling in case the real thing ever comes along.

Well, church, this is not a drill. The tornado is upon us. It is imperative we know how to stand in the whirlwind. And the Bible formula is, "...hear me, don't hide from me, cause me to hear, cause me to know, deliver me, teach me, lead me, quicken me ... for I am thy servant."

Thank God for a generation of people who are no longer being blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine, but are growing up into maturity in Christ.

Copyright: 1994 by Morningstar Publications and Ministries. All rights reserved.

This article is published courtesy of "The Morningstar Publications and Ministries". If you would like to peruse more of their articles, visit Morningstar's website.

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