In the Midst of a Storm

     Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a storm? The sun is shining, the birds are singing and suddenly the bottom drops out? What was seconds ago a calm and serene sky, is now dark and ugly.

Life can be like that. One moment you are sailing through life, your future looks bright, you don't have a care in the world. The next moment, a fierce storm is upon you. You are being tossed about on the waves, you cannot see how you are going to survive this, and you feel like Jesus has completely forgotten about you...

      I know what it is like to have life deal you a sudden and frightening blow. One that knocks the wind right out of you, and you never even see it coming. 

     My husband and I had an idyllic life with our two daughters. Little did we know that we were getting ready to face the "stormiest" period of our lives. One sunny September day, we took our four month old daughter for a well-baby check up. Before that day was over, our precious baby girl was in the hospital, diagnosed with leukemia. Over the next four and a half months, there were many days and nights in which we thought we were going to "drown". I can remember asking my husband if he thought God had forgotten about us. We felt caught up in something we had no control over and we sometimes wondered if Jesus even cared. 

    Perhaps you are in the midst of your own storm right now. Maybe you are facing the loss of someone you love dearly, a marriage that is crumbling, a financial crisis, a beloved son or daughter who is walking down a dangerous path, or maybe you are being tossed about by your own internal or emotional waves, drowning you in fear and anxiety.  Whatever your storm may be, Mark 4:35-41, offers you hope from the One who "even the wind and the waves obey". 

     35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!"Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

     In verse 35, Jesus calls the disciples to go "to the other side". He is asking them to move from Galilee(which was predominantly Jewish) to the western side of the Sea of Galilee and the region of Gerasenes(which was unfamiliar territory to them and predominantly Gentile). I have found that often when God is about to move me into new spiritual territory, there are storms on the way to that new place. And isn't it just like the enemy to try to keep us from reaching our destination with Jesus? 

                                         Be assured, where He calls us, He is with us. 

    The squall that arose was so often like those storms that hit us...sudden, fierce and terrifying. Even though they were seasoned sailors, the disciples knew they could not save themselves. No matter how much experience, money or knowledge we may have, there are storms in this life that come upon us from which we are helpless to rescue ourselves.  At this point in the passage, the disciples' full attention is on the storm and their fear rages like the sea. They suddenly remember that Jesus is in their boat. They turn to Him and He is SLEEPING! How could He? Wasn't He worried that they would all drown? How opposite Jesus' response to the storm than His disciples! He was in the same boat, in the same storm, and yet He slept. 

    The difference lay in the fact that He trusted the Father so completely, that He had no fear. 

                                                    Faith is the remedy for fear.

    His command to the waves was "Quiet! Be still!" His words are reminiscent of Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God." 

    When we are facing a raging storm, there is a transcendent peace that comes from being quiet 

                                                and still, so that we can know Him.     

    It is in that still, quiet time with Him, that our spirits will be calmed. Just like the disciples, we are often too focused on our fear and we lose sight of our faith. This passage ends with the disciples expressing their awe and amazement toward Jesus and what He had just done in their lives. He had saved them from a terrifying storm. Their fear of the storm was replaced by a fear(awe) of the Lord. 

When we have our eyes on Him, trust in His power, and rest in His Presence, we will not perish. Instead, when we get to the other side of the shore, our awe of Him will be increased and our faith will be stronger than it ever was.                                                         

   

Do You Have On The Right Glasses?

    She had known religion. She had gone to church, read her Bible some, and prayed. That was several years ago. Over the past few years, she had strayed away from Christianity, as she knew it. She took a philosophy course and the first seeds of doubt were planted. How could anyone say that Christianity was the only possibility? What about all the other religions out there? And what about the fact that a lot of the people she knew who didn't go to church, seemed more "religious" than the ones who did? She had read books and had conversations that had firmly planted the doubts in her heart. 
    She sat there in front of me, with her bag of doubt, confusion and uncertainty. The recent storms of life had left her broken and hurting, seeking honest answers and not sure where to find them. As I listened to her skepticism and rejection of the Scripture I had given her in our previous conversation, I prayed silently as she spoke. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit made it very clear that she was not talking about the same thing that I was. 
    Like many of us, who may have rejected Christianity or may even have been "doing church" for years, all she knew of Christianity was RELIGION. 
       Religion is focused on outward appearances. It is about earning your way to God, through works(how "good" we can be by going to church, doing Bible studies,etc.). It is rules oriented. It is shallow and surface. It is how the Pharisees(teachers of the Law and religious leaders of Jesus' day) were living. It is the very thing that Jesus spoke against. He did not come to make us more religious, He came to bring us back into RELATIONSHIP with Him. 
      Relationship is developed internally, from the heart. It is based on a deep and intimate knowing of our Savior. It is not based on what we do, but on grace that comes by faith. Like any earthly relationship, it is deepened over time. The more time we spend with Him, the more we know Him. It is the very thing that our hearts were made for. We may try to find it in other places, in other things and even in other relationships. But anything other than a meaningful relationship with Him, is going to eventually leave us disappointed, confused and empty.
This relationship begins and is grown through three things: 
1)a surrendered heart  2)honest prayer and 3)an uncluttered mind. 
Christianity is the only RELIGION that offers this kind of RELATIONSHIP. All others are based on living a perfect life, works, and doing good in order to attain any hope of a relationship with the Creator. That is why Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me".  All of Scripture is a story of how important having relationship with us is to God. From the beginning to the end, God is continually pursuing and rescuing His people. Over and over, He tries to get them(and us) to understand His love for us. Over and over, we don't get it. We cling to a false gospel, we hold tightly to rocks when He is waiting to give us diamonds. Finally, He came to earth to restore that relationship with us through His Son, Jesus. 
    But love isn't love if you force it on someone. It is not love if you "make" someone love you. God loved us enough, that He gave us free will. We all have been given the choice. He's not asking you to choose religion, He is asking you to choose relationship. When we choose to let go of the doubts and false hopes that are clouding our minds and hearts, and we choose to surrender our hearts to Him, our lives will never be the same. We have entered into the very relationship we were created for. We have been found. The emptiness is filled.
    So if you have been looking at church, Scripture and even life through the lens of religion, it is time to put on some new glasses. See Christianity for what it was meant to be. With this new perspective, understand that He does not want your religion, He wants your heart. Will you give it to Him?