WATCHWORD:
1 I love you, Lord; you are my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. 3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.
16 He reached down from heaven and took me and drew me out of my great trials. He rescued me from deep waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me—I who was helpless in their hands. 18 On the day when I was weakest, they attacked. But the Lord held me steady. 19 He led me to a place of safety, for he delights in me. Psalm 18:1-3, 16-19
Meditation:
Storms
As I write this, the news is filled with images of people in Florida filling sand bags, applying plywood sheets to windows and vulnerable places in homes and businesses, and stocking up on generators and supplies of water. The empty shelves of stores mutely testify to the level of preparation and anxiety of those living on the gulf coast. But, as you read this, the news is now filled with stories of the devastation, high winds, massive power-outages, and all that it means. All of this visited upon our brothers and sisters in Florida. They need our thoughts and prayers, to the extent that we can, our help.
It seems to me that this year we have had an increase in different kinds of storms; flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. The talking heads often refer to global warming, and that is part of it, I am sure. In a recent Our Daily Bread, Arthur Jackson reminded us of a record rainfall that proved fatal for 20 people in the town of Waverly, Tennessee. He told us about a skillful and compassionate helicopter pilot, Joel Boyers, who saved so many by his bravery.
While severe weather seems frequent this year, we have our share of personal storms, adversities that beset us, maybe in our relationships, maybe it’s a health concern, or perhaps the loss of a loved one. Whatever the storm, there are days of uncertainty, times when we feel we are in “over our heads”, just plain overwhelmed, fearful.
We’ve all encountered storms in our lives and God has brought us through them. Even now many are struggling, dealing with sharp points of difficulties, yet, because of our faith, we have come to rely on God as our refuge and our strength, our shelter in the storm.
I think about the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, tossed to and fro by the waves, feeling out-of-control, feeling fearful for their very lives. Then Jesus comes to them and calms their storm. But wait, does He calm all storms, quiets all the wind? Maybe not, the sense of grief is still there, just as sharp as before, but he will lift me up, comfort me. It means we have to look to Him, not thrash blindly in the waters of our storm. We have to reach out our hands to grasp His, we have to lift our head so we can see Him, and realize that He is the Rock, our personal helicopter pilot to save us.
We may think that the storms just keep coming, one after another. Yet, we have a blessed anchor or we may see our Lord as the solid Rock on which we stand, while all around me is rising water, high wind or sinking sand. In the midst of all that, through our faith, we can say, thank you Jesus. you are my refuge and strength. Amen.
Closing Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, for being my Rock, my rescuer. May I always look for you in the midst of my many storms, may I not turn around blindly and get swept away. In all my storms, I just want You, only You, my Jesus, You who died for me because you love me. You won’t let me drown in the muddy waters of my flood. Amen.
