I’ve been thinking a lot lately about storms, friends. Not the wintry ones that make us crave soup and new mittens, but the personal variety that come with the challenges and murkiness of bad things happening. Once we’ve all been on this earth past what, sixth grade, we start to realize life is heartbreaking and just a total mess sometimes.
In John 16, Jesus tells His disciples that they would have many sorrows and trials. Unavoidable. It’s not a matter of how hard we serve God or if we’ve filled our holiness quota, bad stuff comes around now and then. He then goes on to say some of the best words ever, He has overcome the world. And He said this so that we could have peace in Him. [Praise hands emoji]
It fills my heart to overflowing to know that He cares about us so much to tell us that yes, things will sometimes be the worst. But, He has overcome the world. What is more eternal than that? And we can hold our peace in Him. Whatever storms are going on, or may pop up this year, we can worship in the storm, because our peace lies in Jesus. Amen? He is more than the storm.
Psalm 107:29 says, “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” Lord, calm our troubled minds.
Sometimes, after coming home from work, my mind starts filtering the day’s contents and conversations. It’s like a very busy raccoon that got distracted by the McDonald’s dumpster. Have you seen the video? The sad raccoon eats all the nuggets and eventually gets too fat to get out of the dumpster. Friends, we can’t let our minds turn into a dumpster raccoon, hopeless and surrounded by trash.
When my mind gets anxious and I worry that I’ve forgotten to lock a certain file cabinet, empty my shred bin, or whatever; the only thing that stops the mind scrabbling is turning my focus to worship. In Luke 8, Jesus is again calming a literal storm. What makes the disciples fear for their lives, Jesus dismisses with His words. And then He asks the disciples, “Where is your faith?” Of course they shouldn’t fear, He is bigger than the storm.
Thank you for joining me here today, friends. Jesus has already overcome the world! We can find our peace in Him.
Shanna, thank you for posting this. I needed to read that passage today. I love the next verse that says that “they were glad when it was over and he guided them to their desired haven.” It has been so difficult to see the impact of this virus on my community. Thank you for helping me find the message God had for me today.
HI, how do we buy this set? With the rainbows? Thank you!