Stay In The Boat
"As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”
Mark 4:35
"The calm water is where you are at, not where you are going. The calm is in the boat with Jesus as He is the only one who can truly calm the storms we all face". I find myself with every counseling appointment and email and text message I try to point people to Jesus as they struggle with all the why questions that surround the struggle they find themselves in. In difficult times we all feel lost somewhere between our hopes and dreams for the future and the fear of thinking that all the rowing in the world is not going to bring us to our desired destination.
Sometimes I feel like a rafting guide on a well known run of a river, fully aware that the raft this person who has been reaching out to me is in is heading for rough water and as I ponder the pain that comes with memory the Lord brought to mind a quote from the book, "A Grace Disguised" which was written by a man who lost his mother, wife and daughter in a head-on car collision. If anyone understood the hurt and heartache of being seemingly lost at sea between two ports it was this man. In the book he wrote about the struggle of trying to make sense out of his tragedy, he wrote, "Loss creates a barren present, as if one were sailing on a vast sea of nothingness. Those who suffer loss live suspended between a past for which they long and a future for which they hope." Anyone who suffers loss knows that same emptiness, the same nothingness. Loss takes on many forms in life. It might be your health or your wealth. It could be the loss of spouse, or a child or friend. It could be the loss of a job or just the loss of your independence as you age. The list goes on and on.
Though it's difficult for the one suffering the pain of loss to see good in their current situation, trust me there is! I find myself continually writing, “It will get better” for the simple fact as believers we know how our story will ultimately end. In verse 41 of Mark’s gospel in chapter 4 the story ends as the storm subsides and the disciples reasoned among themselves, “Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” What the disciples were beginning to learn in their lives is what you and I who follow Christ are learning in our lives here and now.
Our ultimate destination isn’t heaven; our destination is Jesus! The storm the disciples were in served to be a reminder that God is greater than our storms and that safety isn't when the rains cease and the winds stop blowing or even reaching the other side. Safety is the One who is in the boat with you, even in the middle of your storm. Safety, security and destiny are all found in Jesus Christ who promised He would be with you always, even to the end of the age. Stay in the boat!
"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalms 16:11
I LOVE YOU!
Mark 4:35
"The calm water is where you are at, not where you are going. The calm is in the boat with Jesus as He is the only one who can truly calm the storms we all face". I find myself with every counseling appointment and email and text message I try to point people to Jesus as they struggle with all the why questions that surround the struggle they find themselves in. In difficult times we all feel lost somewhere between our hopes and dreams for the future and the fear of thinking that all the rowing in the world is not going to bring us to our desired destination.
Sometimes I feel like a rafting guide on a well known run of a river, fully aware that the raft this person who has been reaching out to me is in is heading for rough water and as I ponder the pain that comes with memory the Lord brought to mind a quote from the book, "A Grace Disguised" which was written by a man who lost his mother, wife and daughter in a head-on car collision. If anyone understood the hurt and heartache of being seemingly lost at sea between two ports it was this man. In the book he wrote about the struggle of trying to make sense out of his tragedy, he wrote, "Loss creates a barren present, as if one were sailing on a vast sea of nothingness. Those who suffer loss live suspended between a past for which they long and a future for which they hope." Anyone who suffers loss knows that same emptiness, the same nothingness. Loss takes on many forms in life. It might be your health or your wealth. It could be the loss of spouse, or a child or friend. It could be the loss of a job or just the loss of your independence as you age. The list goes on and on.
Though it's difficult for the one suffering the pain of loss to see good in their current situation, trust me there is! I find myself continually writing, “It will get better” for the simple fact as believers we know how our story will ultimately end. In verse 41 of Mark’s gospel in chapter 4 the story ends as the storm subsides and the disciples reasoned among themselves, “Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” What the disciples were beginning to learn in their lives is what you and I who follow Christ are learning in our lives here and now.
Our ultimate destination isn’t heaven; our destination is Jesus! The storm the disciples were in served to be a reminder that God is greater than our storms and that safety isn't when the rains cease and the winds stop blowing or even reaching the other side. Safety is the One who is in the boat with you, even in the middle of your storm. Safety, security and destiny are all found in Jesus Christ who promised He would be with you always, even to the end of the age. Stay in the boat!
"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalms 16:11
I LOVE YOU!
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