Stormy Monday

 

Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commands even the winds and water, and they obey him.

And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.

Being an old blues man I find myself hearing this song: 

Stormy Monday. 

'Well they call it Stormy Monday

Tuesday's just as bad.

Wednesday's worse

And Thursday's oh so sad...'

No matter how calm and serene life may be you just never know when a storm may arise.  Thinking about this I am reminded of my first sailing adventure. I was invited by my boss to accompany him on his yacht.  We sailed out of Grosse Pointe Yacht Club which is located on Lake St. Clair, just North of Detroit.  It was a beautiful calm and sunny day - a great day for an excursion.  Unfortunately for me, it was an excursion turned adventure!

My first discovery was that there is a great difference between a 'boat' and a yacht. Other than piloting a 16' aluminum boat with a 35HP Evenrude, I knew absolutely nothing about sailing or yachting. However,  being on a yacht felt much safer to me.  We got off to a great start and it appeared that it was going to be a stellar day. I was also delighted to learn that we were going to do some fishing -  in style, of course. 

One of the many things I did not know, is that Lake St. Clair (like Lake Erie) is extremely shallow and  is known for its sudden violent storms.  Yep, you got it!  I learned first hand that day that no matter what the forecast, no matter how calm, you can suddenly find yourself overwhelmed and in peril from a violent storm.  The  storm which whipped up lake St. Clair that day, was frightening indeed!  Even my boss, who was an experienced captain, was overwhelmed and found himself at the mercy of the wind and waves.  Though we tried to run ahead of the storm we were soon overtaken and it seemed for a time that we might not make it back to the harbor.  It was a 'prayer' moment!  

Reading about this excursion on the sea of Galilee I find myself  identifying with those frightened disciples in the boat with Jesus., "Help us Lord we perish!"

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

My wife will tell you that I, like Jesus, can sleep through anything - especially church and of course movies (chick flicks).  I have always joked that if power napping ever became an Olympic sport I would be a shoe in for a gold medal!

Recently as I read this passage, a light went on and I  received a quiet but awesome revelation concerning "power napping". As I meditated on this passage, somewhere in recesses of my spirit I heard these words:

"Only when you can rest in midst of the storms of life 

Can you then arise in the Spirits power and rebuke them!"

The thought which followed was:

"In Christ, power and authority only come from a position of rest!" 

Wow!  No more frantic activity.  We rest in His finished work and total victory upon the cross, so that;  'Now there remains unto the people of God a Shabat - a Sabbath rest!'   


The challenge remains for me to cease striving and learn to lay back and to rest in Him!  My new mantra has become;

 "Let go and let God."

It seems I waste an awful lot of energy & time trying to do or accomplish what He has already done!   

How about you?