He came to give us life, and that more abundantly. He gave us His peace, not as the world understand peace, but the peace that passes all understanding. He leads me by still waters.
I read this in the Bible and am astounded by the fact that, in the midst of all that I have going on around me, I don't really have to worry about anything but where my attention stays focused. The rest of the world is doing what it can to pull my attention away from the Creator of Heaven and Earth, but He, He is calling me to Himself, drawing me closer, telling me to keep my eyes on Him, and in that I can have rest.
There is a story of Jesus and the disciples crossing a lake in the middle of the night, when this great storm comes and starts to swamp the boat. It is so fierce that all the disciples start to worry about their lives, and that they might die. So, these 12 men turn toward the back of the boat, and go and wake up Jesus to tell him about what's going on. So, Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves, and all is calm. It doesn't say so, but I like to think, Jesus turned around and went right back to sleep.
Now, think about this.. 4 of those 12 disciples were experienced fishermen. They were use to rough seas, and they were petrified of dying. Yet, this son of a carpenter was sleeping right through it.
The disciples problem? They were to concentrated on the storm. They failed to realize that if Jesus could sleep through something, then they should be able to also.
God has not called us to a quiet life, He has not called us to sail on calm seas. He has called us into the storm, to forge ahead and to live dangerously because He has sent us to go. Notice, at the beginning of the story Jesus says this, "Let us go to the other side." If God is sending you into the storm, look to see where Jesus is.
It's easy to miss the rest when you are looking at the storms of life. But, I see Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat.
Lord, help me rest in the back of the boat.
No comments:
Post a Comment