Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Ezek 1:4 NKJV
Let’s look at the context of this verse within the first book of Ezekiel. In verse 1, Ezekiel was among the captives and receives a vision from God. In verses 2 and 3, the word of God and His hand came upon Ezekiel—an in-depth description of God’s calling upon any of the prophets in the Bible.
In verse 4, Ezekiel witnesses something that we would call a tornado. From other Bible passages, we know that God made His presence known to His people with a cloud by day and fire by night. This would have indicated to Ezekiel that this vision was from God. Ezekiel saw the glory of God.
Today we see tornados and we think disaster. And there are disastrous consequences of today’s tornados. But we also see God’s infinite mercy and love when we see a baby protected in a tree during a storm of such magnitude that the cement block home he had been whisked away from crumbled beneath such an onslaught of nature’s fury. How could it not have been God’s protection?
Sometimes the worst times of our lives where we feel overwhelmed, where we feel like nothing can protect us, is the time when God is holding us in His loving arms. Most of the time, we don’t see it until the storm has passed. The key is to remember He’s with us when the storm rages all around us and bask in His grace and mercy.
When and how have God’s arms surrounded you and your family?