Faith

Standing Out In the Storm

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 
Psalm 18:3 KJV

Here in Florida, we have more than our fair share of hurricanes, at least passing by if not hitting us. This leads to many of us staying glued to latest the weather reports, wondering whether this is the time we will need to evacuate. Being now a veteran of worrying and watching these storms, my wife and I have often asked ourselves, “Why in the world are they sticking that poor weatherman (or weather lady), out in the middle of the mess?” As we were watching the luckless weather-beaten reporter on day, a sizeable branch blew down the street, sideswiping them and sending them scurrying for cover. Thankfully they were okay, but it got us to thinking and we decided that they were showing us those people out in the storm, so we would take their forecast seriously enough to prepare for it.

In today’s verse, King David is standing out in the storm. He is surrounded by enemies who have less than happy plans for the end of his life. The men who are out there are five times as many as he has on his side. Adding to the imbalance of numbers, the army looking to kill him is better armed, better trained and better fed. It would appear they are all about to be slaughtered, but in his quiet times while watching his father’s sheep, David has prepared for this storm. He knows what to do: Call out to the Lord! I share this morning’s meditation with you because these last several weeks I have been going through a few health-related storms of my own. Besides a bad bout of strep, I also have some long-term issues with my vocal cords that has me seeing a specialist. But this morning I remembered this verse and the song we used to sing with these words, when I was a twenty-something. In those days, nothing hurt for long, my energy seemed limitless, and I could blithely sing that verse, because I was not standing out in the storm. But I am glad that while things were easy-peasey in my life, I learned this promise, because today I was able to pull it out of my storm preparedness kit and use it to good advantage. God knows the forecast for each of our lives. He is not taken by surprise, nor swept off His feet by the branches blowing down the streets of Heaven. Whatever kind of storm you might be standing out in today, be sure to call with all your heart to the Lord. He is listening for our cry and is as ready to deliver us right now, no matter where the hurricane makes landfall!

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Built for the Storm

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And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39 ESV

Because its founding dates back to 1650, my home state of Connecticut, has many interesting historical sites, and one of my favorites is Mystic Seaport, because it shows how the old whaling ships were built. For me, the most astonishing things of the construction of those boats was the prow. Any good prow began its journey as the lower trunk of a large white oak tree, and rather than the usual practice of cutting the tree at its base, it was cut as far above the ground as possible. Then, the men would dig out the entire stump, and from that mass of roots and tree trunk an almost unbreakable piece was sawn for the prow.

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In today’s verse we see Jesus confronting a storm that had His disciples frightened to death. The waves had begun swamping their small fishing boat, and the wind was so wild that they had to shout to be heard. Terrified that they were all about to drown, they woke Jesus, who was somehow calmly taking a nap in the midst of the chaos. Maybe they hoped that Jesus would help bail or at least pray that they could survive. But what He did next, no one even imagined. Jesus calmed the storm with three words. “Peace be still!” His faith was like the prow of those ancient whaling ships. He had come from heaven’s throne to be born a stable and with all the universe under his rule he chose to grow up in a small village. Though Jesus could have made stones into bread, He fasted forty days in the wilderness and overcame every temptation of the devil. But more than even these things, Jesus was, just like that oak tree that was cut down, dug from the ground and fashioned into the forerunner of our salvation. He is the anchor of our soul, the Captain of our ship, the prow of the ark, which is His church, and our shelter in every storm!

Facing Failure

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments 
But Peter boasted. “No way Lord! Even if everyone fails, You can count on me!” 
Luke 22:33 MNVIT (My not very inspired translation) 

The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. 
Luke 22:61-62 NIV

When in the middle of the temptations and stresses of daily life, it feels impossible to have the kind of faith that I read about with Daniel spending the night with lions, David facing Goliath and Moses the Red Sea. But when I come to the story of a disciple named Peter, I have hope. Now Peter certainly had his days of great faith, such as when he walked on water and or when he boldly confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Yet when we come to the night of Jesus’ arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, something unexpected happened. At first, Peter seemed brave as he pulled out a sword and hacked off the ear of one of the guys coming for Jesus.  But when Jesus put a stop to his tactics, Peter ran away. Then from a safe distance he sneaked into the courtyard where Jesus was being held. We can’t be sure what Peter had in mind, but maybe he was hoping to find any way to free Jesus. But instead of helping Jesus to escape, Peter ended up denying Him three times.

Sadly, just like Peter, there are times when, despite our good intentions, we utterly fail. Circumstances that we hoped to change, spin completely out of our control and we are left as helpless observers. The things we thought we would never say, we blurt out and the things we never promised not to do; we do. After all our boasting about our faith, we end up falling flat on our faces. But at that moment, while we weep bitterly about our failure, remember what Peter did. He remembered what Jesus said. When three days later, Jesus rose from the dead and showed Himself to the disciples He came for Peter also. But this was a Peter who was a changed person. He had discovered that the strength of His faith did not lie in his determination, strength or ability, but on the love, power and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. He found, just as we can, that our faith does not grow from our successes, but from remembering God’s word in our failures.

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