So, on the upside of down today, it’s all ok. You know it is! Really, deep down you know it is! Sure, maybe a lot of downer stuff, snuffed out yesterday really good but there’s always an upside. Always something good in the bad. Always something positive in the negative. And always, always a lesson or two to learn from the stuff that went down, to make us better, not bitter.
Bitter poison vibes will seep into the very core of our spirit to plunge us into rapid ruin. So we don’t want to go there! Let’s not allow our downer disappointments to usher us into such desperate places! Today is a new day! So rest now! Rest in sweet places with your mind and let Jesus into the trouble and into the boat, much the same as He did in Matthew 8:23 – 27, when Matthew penned that old, familiar story of Jesus getting into the boat to start out across the lake with his disciples. Oh, you know it well.
“Suddenly a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. (What a downer!) But Jesus was sleeping. (What a downer!) The disciples woke Him up shouting, “Lord save us! We’re going to drown.”
Jesus said,
“Why are you afraid? You have so little faith.”
“Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and suddenly there was a great calm.”
Wow, just like that, all the fearful, downer moments in that boat were brought to peace, when even the wind and the waves obeyed Him. When your downers make you desperate, cry to the Lord, as the disciples did in that little boat beaten against the waves and the odds and tossed into the winds. You can know He’s not really sleeping but standing by to give you a faith check and heap of help for your heap of trouble. He’s got your stuff, and He’s got your back! He’s in the boat, and all He needs from you is your sincere, child-like faith and trust in Him! So now, beautiful you, that really bad, downer day is placed into His very capable hands and even though it seems like He’s asleep in the trouble, you can know, He isn’t!
Set your faith loose in the storm and find better, not bitter.
So they did the obvious. They got into the boat at His command and set sail across the water without care! All was well with their world and yeah, they could simply trust in the ergonomics of natural laws, and that the boat would get them there especially when their Lord accompanied them. All was smooth sailing and all was good ~ until a vicious storm rose up out of nowhere threatening to take them under. They were with their Lord but suddenly their fears were bigger than He was and He didn’t seem to be enough for their moments of panic. They forgot His words of stability and promise of direction about crossing to the other side and when He fell asleep in the boat they felt He fell asleep on the job! He wasn’t disturbed, anxious, upset or even awake! He suddenly seemed to be just like them, without control over the situation and they lost all confidence and all hope in their Saviour and in their circumstances. Beautiful soul, if He’s given the command to Cross to the other side, or to climb the mountain, or walk the valley, you can know He’s either in the boat, waiting on the mountain or walking that valley with you. He’ll get you there when the storms rage, the mountains fall, and the valley gets deeper. No need for panic when He walks the way or sails the seas with us. Yeah, we can know, He really is in control even when it appears hopeless, broken and crumbled.
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
We gotta learn to trust Him even when we perceive He’s fallen asleep in the boat. Wake Him, ask for His help and let Him rebuke the wind and the waves as He speaks peace into the eye of your storm.
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 