As I read Matthew 14:22-31 I'm struck with a couple of thoughts:
A) Jesus repeats Himself over and over on two points;
1) "Take courage! Don't be afraid."
2) He's always saying, "Come."
B) Verse 30 says, "But when he [Peter] saw the wind." First of all, it's impossible to see wind, yet how often, when we are in the midst of our storms, do we 'see the wind' and become afraid.
Jesus says He will never leave us or forsake us, so in the same way He was with Peter when the wind was against him, He's with us as we face our winds.
I wonder what Peter would have felt if he had child like faith in Jesus. I've watched dads toss their babies high into the air and catch them as they come back down. Always, the response of the baby is squealing laughter! Why? Because they trust their dad completely! If Peter had faith as a little child, I think he may have tried a little cart-wheel up there on the tips of the waves; definitely there would have been some squeals of laughter!
How much fun and laughter do we miss out on in the storms of life because we don't squeal with delight in our Savior who laughs at the waves and rebukes the storms. We're living in a victorious position with Jesus. Enjoy it!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Storms are Good!
What a rain storm we had last Saturday here in Northwestern Oregon; it was an absolute deluge! I've been through storms that brought rain this hard, but never for such an extended period of time. The ground was flooded, the streets turned into little raging rivers, and my basement turned into a great water feature as water flowed under the foundation and found it's way like miniature fountains through every crack in the wall it could find!
I love storms! I love weather whenever it acts up! After 30 minutes of hanging out of various windows and doors watching it, I couldn't take it anymore; pulling on boots and a raincoat, I grabbed an umbrella and headed out into that pounding rain.
There is a strip of dirt that is right hard up against the asphalt road in front of our house, and the soil is so poor here that all it grows are weeds. I've noticed that about poor soil; when it won't support benificial plants, it'll still grow weeds! My mother, who lives with us, is my weed pulling expert! She has tried several times with tool in hand to get these weeds out of this weak, hard soil, without success. The best she could do on this hard-baked soil was to leave a little scratch mark with her trowel and break the tops of the weeds off at the surface of the dirt, leaving the weed roots to grow longer, stronger and many branched deep beneath the surface of the soil.
But this day, with the water pouring across this hard ground for over 30 minutes, the dirt had softened, and I was able to quickly pluck the new weeds out with the same ease that you would remove a dead bouquet from a vase! The dandelion weed, whose roots were several years old, tried to hold out, but the soil was prepared for it's removal, so with a quick gathering of the leaves into a bundle, I applied some gentle pressure as I wiggled that old dandelion weed this way and that to allow the rain water to follow the root system down to deeper levels. I let that water soak in around those weed roots for another short minute, then grabbed the bundle, and with steady pressure, the entire root system released with a sucking sound and all of the tendrils came out of that rain-enriched soil as an unbroken mass!
Victory at last!
Just so is our lives; without God's Word, we are a "parched, dry land," only fit for producing weeds in our lives. But when God's Word rains down, the soil (our hearts) are softened and the first step can be taken to prepare us for a fruitful harvest, that of removing the weeds (sin) so the fruit-bearing seed can be planted.
I love storms! I love weather whenever it acts up! After 30 minutes of hanging out of various windows and doors watching it, I couldn't take it anymore; pulling on boots and a raincoat, I grabbed an umbrella and headed out into that pounding rain.
There is a strip of dirt that is right hard up against the asphalt road in front of our house, and the soil is so poor here that all it grows are weeds. I've noticed that about poor soil; when it won't support benificial plants, it'll still grow weeds! My mother, who lives with us, is my weed pulling expert! She has tried several times with tool in hand to get these weeds out of this weak, hard soil, without success. The best she could do on this hard-baked soil was to leave a little scratch mark with her trowel and break the tops of the weeds off at the surface of the dirt, leaving the weed roots to grow longer, stronger and many branched deep beneath the surface of the soil.
But this day, with the water pouring across this hard ground for over 30 minutes, the dirt had softened, and I was able to quickly pluck the new weeds out with the same ease that you would remove a dead bouquet from a vase! The dandelion weed, whose roots were several years old, tried to hold out, but the soil was prepared for it's removal, so with a quick gathering of the leaves into a bundle, I applied some gentle pressure as I wiggled that old dandelion weed this way and that to allow the rain water to follow the root system down to deeper levels. I let that water soak in around those weed roots for another short minute, then grabbed the bundle, and with steady pressure, the entire root system released with a sucking sound and all of the tendrils came out of that rain-enriched soil as an unbroken mass!
Victory at last!
Just so is our lives; without God's Word, we are a "parched, dry land," only fit for producing weeds in our lives. But when God's Word rains down, the soil (our hearts) are softened and the first step can be taken to prepare us for a fruitful harvest, that of removing the weeds (sin) so the fruit-bearing seed can be planted.
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