Jesus Holds Us In The Storm
He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
-- Mark 4:39-40
Life is like a boat ride and we are the passengers. So began Pastor Rob’s sermon on this passage from Mark. I wonder how many of us in the congregation were in the middle of the storm? How many had just passed through the storm to the other side? How many will face a storm tomorrow?
Because we all face storms throughout our lives. It’s just part of the journey. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t have ups and downs, joys and sorrows, success and failure. Oh, some of it seems more obvious than others but it’s there just the same.
If we are wise we learn to understand that it is all just part of the rhythm of life. A few years ago a friend from college told me her father had died just two months before his first great-grandchild was born. I expected her to be devastated and, I suppose, she was.
But she was also philosophical about it. It’s the circle of life, she said. Just as we are born, we die. I suppose it was easier to accept because her father had lived a vibrant life, filled with family and surrounded by love.
It’s not so easy when the death is sudden, the person is young, or we don’t have closure of some kind. Closure is one of those words, isn’t it? How do you ever get closure? I’ve never figured that out. I know about acceptance. I know about gradually learning to heal. I know about lessoning pain and memories that bring joy. But I don’t know about closure. I’ve never seen it or experienced it.
What I have seen, what I have experienced, is the hand reaching out, grasping mine in the middle of the storm. What I know is that when we cry out to God for help, for comfort, for peace, He always answers. He’s always there. He never, ever leaves us or lets us down.
I’ve learned to count on that. To embrace it even. And it draws me closer to Him, even in the good times. It’s like a comfortable relationship where two people share the good and the bad, the celebrations and the sorrows, the laughter and the tears. I hold on to that and it guides me through this journey called life.
We’ll encounter storms along the way, no matter the path we take. We can either allow the storms to destroy us or we can focus our attention, our minds, on Jesus and follow Him to solid ground.
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