TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:
Phil 4
Mark 4
TODAY'S MESSAGE:
For the longest time I used to think storm chasers were some of if not the most craziest people on the Earth. I mean, unlike traditional people, you and I, they hunt down, and chase these storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters instead of seeking cover. I mean, isn't that the point of an earliy warning system, so you can have to prepare, and plan ahead for what is coming and get out of the way.
Well like you, I thought of it in this way until seeing the movie Twister and actually learning about the eye of a tornado, or twister as they are called in the Midwest. You see like our lives a tornado can reach destructive speeds between 73-261+mph, enough to overturn automobiles and mobile homes, rip off the roofs of houses, and uproot trees, in addition to lifting houses off their foundations and hurling them considerable distances which is what it feeling like when life is coming at you on all sides and one thing after another keeps happening and sometimes the same thing over and over again, as it encompasses and circles around you much like the tornado! We feel that God has for some reason turned his back on us, forsaken us and left us out to die, but this could not be further from the truth.
When we hear the early warning alarm system of life go off we are scrabbling trying everything we can to fix it, or make it right. Relationship not going right, I will leave it and find another, kids getting on your nerves, time to ship them to grandma for a vacation, boss or coworker getting on your nerves, I'll just come in late and leave early so I don't have to deal with them, not realizing that all we are doing is hurting our self in the process. I call it a process because there is something God wants to do for you in that mess!
But we forget just like with the early warning systems, one, sometimes the storm never comes, we can try to predict it with all the latest technologies, radars and trackers, but sometimes it just never comes out right, two, when it does come, you can truly never be prepared for the affects of the storm, i.e. the intensity, the strength, and the magnitude of it. Yeah, we may listen to the forecaster, or meteorologist, " Tomorrow it will be clear skies with a chance of rain on Friday, " and it winds up raining all week so much that you don't even remember what the sun looks like, or better yet, " girl you don't need him, he ain't got no money, you ain't got to be struggling like that, just leave him and it will be better! yeah from the meteorologist that ain't got a spouse, never been married or better yet married five times and looking for husband number six!
This is what Jesus was trying to get across in Mark 4. The disciples were consumed with everything going on around them, so much that they could not think clearly enough to understand. They were questioning their faith, even their God and yet, Jesus was right in the boat with them. You see problems occur in every area of our lives, and we may even have more storms then calm seas, but it is with faith that we are to trust in his word, pray, and press ahead toward the high calling. The Sea of Galilee is about 680 feet below sea level and surrounded by hills and the winds blowing across the land could often cause violent and unexpected storms, and the disciple knew this, after all some were seasoned fishermen and spent most of their adult lives fishing these waters, but just like us, they panicked.
Jesus woke and Peace, be still and the calm fell on the waters and the wind was silent. This is what God is trying to do in our lives, see when the storm comes, we can get so distracted, and in a panic that we can forget what God has taught us along the way in our walk. Jesus is trying to get us to understand that he is still there and just like in the eye of the tornado he wants you to look up to the father and let him give you peace, the peace of the lord that surpasses all understanding (Phil.4:6-7). We can see everyone else going through and dealing with their own storms, and believe that God is in the mist of them but just like the disciples in the boat with Jesus, we tend underestimate his power to handle crises in our lives (Mark4:41). God wants to get you right there in the middle of the storm surrounded with nothing to do but look up. In the middle of the twister when you look up it is such a breath taking sight, the air is clean having been purified from the high winds and clouds of the storm and that is what is happening to you, you are being cleaned, blowing away all the dirt leaving the clear blue sky.
God wants to do a work in you, and getting out the storm is not the answer, instead, today as you find trouble come your way, look to and focus in on God, and may he grant you peace today, Peace be with you all!
Faithful One, so unchanging
Ageless One, You're my Rock of peace
Lord of all, I depend on You
I call out to You, again and again
I call out to You, again and again
You are my Rock in times of trouble
You lift me up when I fall down
All through the storm
Your love is the anchor
My hope is in You alone
-Beni
