Into the Storm

“Sometimes He calms the storm and sometimes He calms the child”

This past week hurricane Ike came blowing through. Some people were barely affected and some suffered devastating losses. My house was untouched but a few blocks away a tree fell into my daughter’s house taking out the outside wall of her nursery. We had all evacuated so nobody was harmed. I know this storm caused great suffering from property damage to the loss of lives. Matthew 8:24 -27 tells about Christ being in a boat with His disciples and calming a storm that terrified them. Christ was with them. They had followed Him. At the point that the storm arose, He was already with them in the boat. Christ did question why they were afraid…after all the King of the Flood sat with them in the boat. I understand that this story is mainly about the disciple’s faith and lack of knowledge of who Christ is but there is something more to glean from it. Yes, the disciples were afraid but at least they were following Christ. He was with them in the boat when the storm came. He was right there to calm the storm, to calm them, to calm their fears. God does not always calm the storm...sometimes He calms us. Certainly, Christ can find us in a storm but how much better for us if He is already with us before the storm...before even the first waves hit. I saw this with my daughter as we surveyed her damaged house. There she stood 8 months pregnant staring at the nursery with a tree coming through the roof. I knew that she would be okay because I knew she walked into this storm with Christ. He was already right there to calm and comfort her. Who are you following right now in the calm of life? Is Christ right there with you now in the boat? Is He with you in your day to day living so He can walk with you into the storm to either calm the storm or calm you?

You are all I need...be all I want.

I am ashamed to say I have not done quiet time in a few days. I have reasons but none of them good enough. Today when I sat down to start my time with Him I heard Him say, “I have been waiting.” Not in a condemning way, in a longing way. The Almighty, The Creator has been waiting for me. He never quits waiting. He does not give up. He waits. How long He waits is entirely up to me. The crazy thing is He waits not because it is what’s best for Him but because it is what’s best for me. God needs nothing from me. He is complete…lacking nothing. He has all the answers. But I need Him. I need Him to speak to me, to comfort me, to give me strength, to direct my steps. I need Him more than anything else. The problem is I don’t always want Him like I should. Today I ask Him to forgive me for obviously wanting other things before Him. Forgive me for putting other interests before Him. Forgive me for wanting things of this world more than Him. And yet He waits. He waits for me. Today He waits for you. How long will you make Him wait? He is all you need. Ask Him to be all you want.