“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” – Jeremiah 29:11
We had quite a storm last night. The weather alarms were going off every fifteen minutes or so beginning at 2:00 am. Being wakened from a deep sleep by a blaring alarm on my cell phone, accompanied by the land line ringing to tell me of a severe thunderstorm warning was unnerving. The rain bombarded our house without mercy, like a dump truck continuously pouring gravel on the roof! The lightning flashes were so frequent that the blackness of night was obliterated! Then the thunder would reverberate beginning as a low growl, then escalating to a massive boom before beginning all over again! The family decided to descend into the basement just in case.
Our storm reminded me of another storm nearly two thousand years ago. Three of the gospels record a life-threatening storm for the disciples of Jesus. I wonder how ferocious the storm was the night the Saviour slept in a small fishing boat while his followers feared for their lives on the Sea of Galilee. The Bible doesn’t record that it was a thunderstorm, but rather a fierce windstorm that whipped the waves of the Sea of Galilee into a frenzy. Did the wind have a tornadic nature? Did the roar of the maelstrom echo all around them, assaulting the ears of the fishermen with the threat of death? Did massive waves mock their futile efforts as they frantically tried to get back to the shore? Luke 8 records that their boat was even taking on water! Yet through all of this, Jesus slept.
When his fearful disciples woke Him, Jesus simply spoke to the wind and the sea, and they immediately calmed. And then He asked the men, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25)
We are living in a very tumultuous time. There are a lot of unknowns in our future. The covid-19 virus has greatly altered our lifestyle, and frankly, no one knows the ultimate outcome of it. It is frightening to think about our social isolation as becoming the new normal. It is unsettling to think that any one of us could be the next to succumb to this sickness. It is terrifying to think that our paychecks will not arrive, and we won’t have the money we need to purchase food or pay the bills. There is so much we can be scared about right now.
But Jesus asks us all, “Where is your faith?”
This morning when I woke, all was calm. The sky was a beautiful robin’s egg blue in color, and fluffy white clouds were stretched and reshaped as the wind gently blew. The storm was over.
God kept us safe through the night. He’ll see us through the storm of 2020. Keep the faith!
In the dark of the midnight, have I oft hid my face;
While the storm howls above me, and there’s no hiding place;
‘Mid the crash of the thunder, precious Lord, hear my cry;
“Keep me safe ’til the storm passes by.”
Many times Satan whispers, “There is no need to try;
For there’s no end of sorrow, there’s no hope by and by”;
But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I’ll rise;
Where the storms never darken the skies.
‘Til the storm passes over, ‘Til the thunder sounds no more;
‘Til the clouds roll forever from the sky,
Hold me fast, let me stand, in the hollow of Thy hand;
Keep me safe ’til the storm passes by.
(from “’Til the Storm Passes By” by Mosie Lister)
“But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” – Matthew 8:27
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Keep believing in what you know to be true! God is faithful!
AMEN! God is Faithful!