God In Charge

Waves lap seashore as tide rolls in... steadily, constantly. Chair rocks on the porch as eyes skim across vast water and I wonder, where is God in all this? In a world seemingly gone mad, can He be found? Does He care? 

Mountains jet out from bay's edge, drawing the gaze ever Heaven-ward as I search for calm. Chest has been tight and heart has raced and fists have clenched a bit more and is there really anyone who hasn't felt the tension in recent months? Any human wouldn't be human were they to deny they've had their share of worry, of fear as they've watched the globe disintegrate into chaos. We've all looked for Grace, but it's appeared hidden. We've all looked for hope, but it's felt absent. 

And yet... have either really, truly left? 

It was on such a body of water that Christ taught His disciples one of the most profound lessons in faith of all time. It was in a storm of epic proportions that He showed them Who was actually in control - that all winds and waves are ever under His authority and will always bow to His sovereign will...

Even so will all kings and governments and all soul-storms that threaten us, too. Remember that.

It was in a dark night amongst great gales that blew and water that nearly swallowed them right up where Jesus' followers were convinced they were about to die that He reminded them He was in the boat all along. And aren't we frequently the ones yelling out to Him that we're close to perishing and can taste our own demise when He's been asleep with us the entire time? 

Boats pass in front of me as fisherman come and go... 

And I see the metaphor: we do not sail into waters where He has not gone before and we do not face any fears He has not known about and we do not walk into any storms without Him walking there with us, and who are we to say that He does not see or does not know? 

God has a way of confounding all I know and making me realize how little I know and that He always knows and somehow, I'm always left humbled in that I failed to notice Him, sense Him once again. 

When Jesus raised His hands to still the tempest, He did so with a declaration of, "Peace!" And isn't He always repeating that same command to my concerned heart, forcing me to find my rest in Him alone because it is in that that I am truly saved - saved from myself and from the joy-stealers of my heart. 

An Olympic athlete, who himself is one of God's own, recently spoke of learning to "protect your peace" and I'm seeing the need for that in a world that constantly is pushing fear in my face, always trying to get me to doubt what the Spirit says is true, attempting to draw me away from the refuge of God-given serenity I need and love. It takes courage to guard your space of hope and to live in the place of rest God creates for those who know Him. To see beyond all the optics and the crazy and the un-fair and the not-true to the Story behind all other stories... His-story! 

Lone fisherman casts out and hopes for a catch and I realize I'm being called to cast off my own worries and leave them in the depths of His love, forever buried. I cannot run this race for His glory if I'm always believed what my eyes tell me because then, what need would I have for faith? If I could always immediately understand everything, why should wait on Him for anything? 

Sand in the toes brings to mind the words of David that the thoughts of God outnumber the sand (Psalm 139:18) and those very same thoughts include me. And why then should I feel discouraged when my Savior has already made it clear that no darkness can ever drive Him from me or take away His love? 

God has promised to always be in charge - to rule over the kingdoms of the earth and to always save and protect those who belong to Him and, if I really, deeply believed this, I would have no need to be afraid. I could return back again to that one word which stills it all - "peace!" 

The One who followed up that statement with the order to "be still" makes it clear that in order to know He is God and to grasp and rest in His complete control of the universe, I have to be stilled in the soul. I have to sit and ponder on His ways. I have to search out His heart and understand how He moves. I have to calm my anxious heart and remind it that God, as sure as the tide movements He created, remains. And He reigns. And all wild things that take place for His glory and the good of His plans. 

That being the case, it is fact that all things are made to work together for good and that nothing is ever wasted with Him. Nothing. Ever. 

As my soul rises up to meet God in this place and He descends down, holy is this moment indeed! 

Oh, me of little faith...

I do not need to always see to trust or know in order to believe. I just need to hear "peace!" spoken and then find a way to be still. Cease striving. Stop moving. Take time to simply listen. And then protect that space of tranquil from invading fears. Because perfect love casts out such concerns and as I am more perfected in Love Himself, I release the need to hold on so tight. I gain a better ability to turn loose and let go and to come back to the place of calm in it all. 

The boat may pitch and toss, the waves may seem high, and the winds blow a fury... but God... 

Here, in the same storm, He abides. Faithful. Aware. In charge.