Even The Wind And Waves Obey Him

Even The Wind And Waves Obey Him

The God who controls the winds controls the nations.

IN THE SEVENTEENTH century the decades of the 1660s through the 1680s were tough times for God’s people in England and Scotland. After the ascendancy of the Puritans to political power during the English civil wars of the 1640s and the execution of King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan Independent or Congregationalist, set up a commonwealth with himself as its head. He took the title of Lord Protector, which he held until his death in 1658. His son Richard succeeded him as protector for one year before he resigned. During the Cromwells’ rule the Puritans experienced the peak of their political power and enjoyed religious freedom.

The Presbyterians who controlled the English Parliament were no fans of the Cromwells. Therefore, in 1660 Parliament invited Charles II, the second son and successor of Charles I, to the throne. They were no doubt influenced by the fact that ten years earlier Charles II had become a Presbyterian in order to encourage Scottish support for his recovery of the throne. But Charles II turned out to be no friend of God’s people. Under the Act of Uniformity of 1662 all ministers were given a deadline by which they had to give their public support of the Anglican Prayer Book and were required to receive Episcopal ordination if they had not yet been so ordained. This resulted in the “Great Ejection” in which about two thousand Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist pastors were forced from their churches. The Five Mile Act of 1665 forbade non-Anglican ministers from coming within five miles of any British city or town.

Finally, on his deathbed in 1685, Charles II publicly acknowledged his conversion to Roman Catholicism, which he had kept secret for years. This explained his animosity toward the Presbyterians, who had brought him to the throne.

Charles II was succeeded by James II, another Roman Catholic. James II intensified the persecution of the Scottish Covenanters, who resisted the Episcopal form of government being forced upon the Church of Scotland. Many devout Presbyterians lost their lives. Since James II had pushed for a Catholic succession, the birth of his son brought the issue to a crisis. His daughter Mary had married William of Orange, who himself had strong claims to the throne of England. William, born in the Hague and raised as a follower of John Calvin, had become head of state of the Netherlands. The thought of James’s Catholic son as heir to the throne was too much for the Protestant nobles of England, and they invited William and Mary to take the throne.

On November 1, 1688, William set out with his navy across the English Channel, intending to invade England. The wind that propelled William’s fleet was so strong that it kept many of the English ships imprisoned in the Thames River, unable to sail into the Channel to attack William. As William’s fleet sailed along the English coast, martial music blared from the decks, and the lights stretching from stem to stern on each ship blazed through the evening sky. It was a stirring spectacle to the beleaguered Protestants of England. On November 5, 1688, William’s fleet landed on English soil, and William of Orange and his troops began what has become known as the Glorious Revolution.

James II fled to France. The next month as the Protestants of England celebrated Christmas worshiping as they wished, James attended Mass in France.

God used the wind to keep England a Protestant nation.

Reflection

Have you ever seen God use the forces of nature to accomplish his purposes in your life? Has a storm or other natural disaster prevented you from doing something or going somewhere? Perhaps afterward you could see God’s hand in it. Sometimes it is difficult to understand why certain things happen, but we can find comfort in knowing that God is in control of all things. Our faith is in a God who not only created the winds but also controls them to achieve his purposes. Our God is an awesome God!

Who is this man, that even the wind and waves obey him?

Mark 4:41