storms

Even the Wind and Sea

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Mark 4:41 ESV

Have you ever noticed that even when we think we’re headed in the right direction life is rarely routine for long? Here in this little story the disciples were doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do and yet everything went wrong. Worse yet, Jesus seemed unaware of or unconcerned about their life shaking problem. But the interesting thing is that when the Lord did get up and take care of the storm that they were not at peace. In fact God’s very method of saving them made them fearful of what they had just experienced. Does the Lord allow circumstances that shake our world to just force us to run to Him, or is He aiming for something more? Maybe He has been stirring up our comfortable routine to get us to ask life changing questions that only He can answer. After all life is not so much having the right answers neatly tied in a bow as in seeking Jesus for the answers and finding them in Him! Have a wonderful Sunday and may God speak a peace into your heart just as He did so long ago. Take a moment alone and ask Him to answer your deepest questions. Maybe this quiet praise from Emu music will help you rest in Him.

Peace Be Still!

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 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 4:38-38 ESV

Once my wife and I were invited to a get-together, at a house we had not been to before in an unfamiliar part of town. This was long before the days of GPS, so I started off listening carefully as my wife called out the directions that our friends had given. I turned left then right despite the fact that were getting increasingly further from town, I kept going, thinking that perhaps this was some sort of shortcut. Finally as we were instructed to turn onto a dirt road, I began to get an uneasy sensation in the bottom of my stomach that something was wrong. My concern was soon confirmed as we came around a sharp bend in the dirt road and it suddenly came to an end in the middle of a cow pasture!

We still laugh when we remember that day, but when more serious events of our lives begin to resemble getting lost in a cow field there is nothing funny about it at all. Events sometimes frightened us to the core. That is how those wet, weary disciples felt in the storm. They had obediently followed Jesus step by step, but the directions he had given seemed to have led them into a storm with no way out. They cried out thinking that Jesus was neither aware of or even cared about their situation. But Jesus did know and He did care both about their storm and ours. He has actually chosen this crazy situation that we are in to show us that He always knows and that He always cares. He has led us into this storm. As a nation a church, a family and an individual Jesus allows storms, so that we can learn to trust in Him – and when we fully trust, He calls out over the roar of the wind and waves, “Peace be still!” and a then great calm from heaven will come.

Seeds of Hope

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. Acts 27:25 ESV

This past week I have been cleaning up the flower beds and planting seeds at my sister in law’s. While she is in hospice care at home my wife is cooking and helping with personal care while I weed, water and trim. Those seeds I plant give Diane hope because every one put in the ground says, “Come back in six weeks and I’ll show you my blooms!” Those seeds reminded me of the story of Saint Paul in the storm.

When Paul was going through that storm the easiest thing to do would have been to complain and blame everyone else. Yet though we can be sure that Paul prayed plenty the text seems to say that God just sent an angel with a message of hope while he was sleeping. Get the picture? Everyone was desperately fighting the storm, but Paul said his prayers, trusted God and lay down to rest! Then when Paul woke up he passed that hope on to everyone else who was in the same boat with him.

When we plant seeds, our garden doesn’t do anything. Its job is simply to receive. We as the gardeners do all the work and the garden gets to give joy to anyone who sees the flowers when they bloom. If we are believers in Jesus Christ then we each are a part of God’s big garden. God plants some seeds of hope in all of us especially when we are facing storms. Maybe we should ask, “What seeds of hope has he given me that I might show to others as they face their storm today?