Love like a Hurricane

Tonight I will have the privilege to go see David Crowder live at Geneva College (one of the perks of having a husband that works in PR at this institution) and I can´t express how excited I am. I think David Crowder is a smart and talented contemporary Christian singer, song-writer…not to mention that cool beard.

At any rate, in my opinion, Crowder’s lyrics are thought-provoking and intense. For example, in one of his songs, he refers to God’s love as a “hurricane.” To some, that image is troublesome due to the image’s association with devastation and trauma. I can see that perspective. However, to me the thought of God loving us like a hurricane reflects the idea of God’s power shaking us up and destroying all the things that must be destroyed in our lives in order to take us one step closer to being holy.

I’ve never been in a full-flesh hurricane. Even though I was born and raised in a country with a Caribbean coast, Panama doesn’t get the full force of hurricanes…a huge blessing! We tend to only get the tail end of those monster storms. But let me tell you, that’s enough for me to have the utmost respect for that event of nature, and to know that only what is strongly rooted in solid ground survives it. Like palm trees, for example…O boy, I love palm trees! They weather hurricanes like nothing else…bending, but never breaking…enduring, but never uprooting…

Anyway…

Perhaps, that’s why I am not disturbed by the image of God’s love like a hurricane. Since I am a profoundly flawed person who walks through life accumulating unnecessary and often damaging junk, I need God’s love to be forceful. Maybe it is because my sin chokes my spirit with roots that constantly seek to wrap around my heart, mind and soul, that I particularly like the song. The idea of God’s love being so forceful that once it grabs a hold of me, it won’t let me go until I am clean and purified speaks to me and gives me hope…even if it involves destruction.

I don’t know… but I think of Jesus talking about how God prunes us like the vine so we can bear more fruit, (John 15: 2) or how He puts us through a sieve, and shakes us through that strainer until all the chaff is gone and just the grain remains (Amos 9: 8-9) and I see God’s love as a powerful force, capable of destruction for our own good…and then, the image of a hurricane doesn’t seem too farfetched.

I understand the negative connotation of a hurricane, particularly considering recent tragedies resulting from this natural phenomenon, but I also see and appreciate the association with God’s love. Sometimes all we need is the gentle breeze of His presence to encourage us to join Him along the way…oftentimes, we…OK, maybe it is just me… need the absolute strength of God’s hand falling upon me hard, to re-direct me and dust off the useless excess that threatens to suffocate and kill any hope for good fruits popping within my soul…

God’s love manifests itself in many ways. There are no limits to what God can do as there are no limits to what He can use for His purposes and for His glory…be it a whisper or a loud bang, a breeze or a hurricane. I pray I can keep my mind open to Him so I can find Him everywhere.

He is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy

When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions

Eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are

And how great Your affections are for me.

David Crowder - How He Loves Lyrics | MetroLyrics