From Raging To Rest

She asked me to speak for a luncheon at her house. I asked her what she wanted me to talk about and she said, “Pray about it and then talk about whatever the Lord puts on your heart.” Every time I prayed I came up with only one idea “ When Jesus Invites You Into A Storm”. It was beautiful and sunny the day of the luncheon, it didn't seem to match at all what I would be talking about. I didn't know that in within a few short months a tornado would hit that same neighborhood causing what the Governor called “utter devastation.”

Storms come and with them comes confusion. As the sky darkens anxiety can flood my heart like the waters flood the earth. When I read in Luke 8 about the storm Jesus' disciples encountered on the lake it adds another dimension of helplessness. “They were filling with water and were in danger.” Why were they out in their boat on the lake in the storm? It was because Jesus had said, “Let us go to the other side of the lake,” and then as they sailed He fell asleep.

Storms expose my helplessness. When all around me is calm and peaceful I have the illusion of being in control. However, when the tempest comes I am often jolted and find myself off balance. I feel sick when it seems that even what I'm standing on is being tossed by the waves of a squall. The darkness of the sky causes me to loose my direction. The darkness, the confusion, the loss of balance also cause me to feel very isolated and cut off from any who could help. Storms expose my helplessness but they also expose what I really believe and what I put my faith in or don't put my faith in.

“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” Ralph Waldo Emerson. When my life is assaulted with the darkness of the storm I begin to recognize my weakness and it is then that I begin to understand who God really is. When Jesus' disciples woke Him because they felt they would drown they found out who this man really was. Did He care? This is a question that has come unbidden to my mind as well when the darkness comes. Can He help? Jesus, “rebuked the wind and the raging waves and they ceased, and there was a calm.” When it's dark enough and all around me I hear the raging wind it is then I come to know the one who can command even the wind and the waters and I experience within my soul a supernatural calm that can only come when He calms the storm.

Lord Jesus, You not only rebuked the storm You rebuked Your disciples. “Where is your faith?” Help me when I become aware of my helplessness and am afraid, to put my trust in You. Thank You, for the storms because it is in the midst of them I discover again that you care and are able to bring calm to my soul. When it is dark enough, I see Your light.