storms

Anchored Safely By the Shore

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ Acts 27:23-24 ESV

When we were kids, my sister and I often argued loudly in the backseat of the car. We wouldn’t stop until our mom turned around and yelled, “Quiet! I can’t even hear myself think!” Today’s verse comes after a fourteen-day storm in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. After being battered for weeks by the waves, Paul and the sailors probably felt a lot like our mother!

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

One of the greatest difficulties during storms is our inability to think or sometimes even communicate with others. But no matter what our circumstances we can continue to pray. When it seems most difficult, we need to remind ourselves that God sends His message at midnight. In fact, He not only sent a message to Saint Paul in the storm at mid-night, but He chose many other times in the Bible to do the same for others. Remember, it was midnight when angels appeared to the shepherds. It was midnight when Jesus came walking out on the water and at midnight God will also send His message to us. At the darkest moment, when we are least expecting God will come and stand by our side and say, “Don’t be afraid.” What are you facing today? Is it midnight in your storm? It is not too late! In fact, midnight is the perfect time for Jesus to send His message that He will sail with us till we are home and anchored safely by the shore!

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.