Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. Psalm 57:1 ESV
Some days the hawk sits silently While the thunder crashes round And swallows swoop into the barn Where the chickens huddle down
Tall cranes stand in the rushes In her house the blue bird sleeps While the chickadees are twittering In the thickets dark and deep
But eagles fly up to their nests When they hear their children cry And shelter them under their wings While the rain is passing by
Then why should you and I do less Who know our place to fly Up to God our refuge strong While the storm is passing by
And as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” Luke 8:23-25 ESV
In today’s verse, Jesus tells the disciples to get into the boat and head across the lake. After doing what He asked, they probably started out confidently, but about halfway across the water, a violent storm kicked up and suddenly it looked like they were about to die. Now, I have never almost drowned at sea, but while we lived on a busy city street, it was not unusual for us to place, 911 calls, after hearing, the familiar screeching of brakes and crunch of metal outside our home. Once my wife even jumped in to help direct traffic after one particularly bad accident. And though we knew what to expect, it was always a shock to me as, I was frantically explaining about the latest crisis, when the operator would cut in and simply ask, “Where is your emergency?” I was dying tell talk about, broken windshields or stunned drivers sitting on the curb, but what they wanted to know first was our location. Ironically, since our fire station was only about 5 blocks away, we could hear the sirens the moment we told them our address. As I calmed down, the operator would then ask, “Are there any injuries?” at which point a second siren would begin to wail and then last, she would ask my name, address, and phone number.
No matter where we live, all of us will experience a crisis and find ourselves in storms. The Bible never explains how to avoid every emergency, but it does tell us that God stands ready to help us in them. If it feels as if Jesus has fallen asleep, don’t give up. The most important thing in every storm is that Jesus is in our boat! Remember the 911 operator’s order. First tell Jesus where your emergency is. Though He already knows, He usually waits until we cry out to Him, “Hey Jesus wake up!” before He answers. Secondly, tell Him about your problem. “We are all about to drown!” Is pretty specific. Don’t be vague, tell Him every detail. Last of all, give Him Your name. For our names to be written down in His book, we need to first give Him the name of Master in our hearts, because only He commands our wind and waves. With Jesus there are no emergencies, and when He is the Captain of our Salvation, our boat will never sink!
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:27 NKJV
As many of you know, we here in Florida have recently been through two hurricanes. Thankfully, our home was spared damage, though for a couple of days our neighborhood was surrounded on all sides by flooding. For us, the highlight of these events is that Betty and Banjo moved in with us. Betty is a lady from our prayer group, and my buddy Banjo is a fourteen-year-old Yorkie, who is still pretty spry though he is missing a few of his teeth. Taking a quick glance at Banjo’s face as he waits for me to hook up his leash, doesn’t inspire the thought, “Now that is a wise looking animal.” Yet, the Lord has used my new friend to remind me about stopping to consider.
You see, when I go for my normal walks, I look up at the sky, smile at the neighbors and focus on finishing a mile in just over twenty minutes. But walking with Banjo has been quite a different experience. Banjo’s goal (besides his normal doggie duties) is to stop and sniff at leaves, fallen branches, plants in my garden and even rather ordinary patches of grass. At first, I wasted time and energy fussing at Banjo, tugging on his leash and wondering what in the world was so intriguing about whatever twig his nose was closely inspecting. Then I remembered how Jesus said, “Consider the lilies.” and He, the master craftsman of the universe, designed every detail of every lily to teach me a lesson about life. I recalled that while I enjoyed striding around my neighborhood, Banjo preferred slowly ambling up the sidewalk, pausing every few feet to consider the delicate smells of a thousand things in his world. When I toss and turn in my bed wondering how we can help Betty and Banjo get reestablished, Banjo sleeps soundly though the night. While I fret over whether we should invest in a generator, Banjo simply eats whatever we put in his dish and then lies down for a sweet nap. Though our future seems more uncertain than ever, now I pause again and consider lilies, and sparrows, and remember that my Heavenly Father is still in control. He orders the tides and storms, commands the wind and waves, and calms my heart. And I am thankful this morning for how God sent us one little Yorkie named Banjo, to remind me of His love and care!
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