What a day!! For those of us who live in the track of the storms that have hit, it's been one amazing day. Downtown Pell City was hit hard with big winds or a high level tornado and surrounding cities and areas just got slammed. I'm not sure how many people lost their lives but there's one I want to share with you today that just touched my heart to the core.
Anytime, storms rage around me there are two passages in Scripture that come to mind.
The first is found Psalm 8 -- "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
This Psalm calms my spirit in storms because it's such a clear reminder of Who made the earth and Who is completely in control of all that happens and all Who are His. A tornado came over our house a couple of years ago. I've never heard anything like it before and it was so strong and so powerful it truly made me tremble for about an hour after the storm was over. I've never felt so small or so helpless in my life and I remember crying out to God in that moment for protection. I could hear the trees groaning as the fell behind our home in the woods and the next morning, I was amazed at the destruction all around our city. I was more amazed that our home had very little damage. A few shingles lifted and some hail damage but as close as that tornado was to our home, there's no doubt it could have destroyed it in a moments' flash.
I remember being afraid - but my fear wasn't terror. I was afraid because there was nothing I could do to control it. There was nothing I could do to stop it and there was nothing else I could do to protect any of my possessions. I was alone (my husband was at work) except for the company of my two precious dogs who were peacefully sleeping and unaware of what was going on around them...the house was so dark I couldn't carry them to the "safe place" with me without risking falling down the stairs. I remember standing at the base of my staircase calling them and seeing the green sky and torrential rain and hail falling in drifts around me. It was so loud it was deafening...I knew the only One who could hear me was God and I cried out to Him.
When the storm passed, the quiet was unnerving. It was so cold and so quiet and dark with no power. I walked outside just to see if anyone else was going to join me -- no one. The streets were pitch black, the yard was wet and slick and all I could see from the moonlight through the clouds were the deep drifts of hail next to the trees and leaves and limbs everywhere. It was almost paralyzing...hard to breathe even. The smell of broken trees and fallen power lines was strong and the birds were completely silent.
The awesomeness of God's Majesty was so apparent to me in living through this storm. I'll never forget it and since that time, I always return to this Psalm when these storms arise.
The second passage comes from Mark 4:35-40. "That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
I think what stands out to me so much in this passage is that Jesus was asleep during this bad storm and he was in the stern of the boat, which would have been rough and rocky. He wouldn't have been dry by the nature of the style of boat they'd have been in but He was asleep on a pillow (cushion) AND the disciples woke Him up to tell Him about it. There's something about this that just makes me smile. I appreciate Jesus' sense of humor so much and I believe that He was fully aware of what was going on and committed to resting and knew that the disciples would come to Him for rescue. I believe that when He got up He may have even rolled His eyes and walked up on deck to rebuke the storm as a parent would a fussy child but he had a little smile on His face when He did it. Notice that Jesus didn't fuss at the disciples for coming to him. Notice that the weather obeyed Him. Notice that Jesus merely asked them why they were afraid and still didn't have faith. I love that!
If you go back to the very beginning of this passage, the disciples had been with Jesus seeing him perform miracles of healing and restoration - they had heard him preach to enormous crowds -- ALL DAY LONG!!! and yet...a storm comes up and they still ran to Him to "fix it" and were so bold to ask if he cared about their safety...
I ask you, don't we do the same thing? We spend time worshipping and celebrating His goodness, which is wonderful -- and then something happens to "rattle our cages" and we doubt God cares about us. It's not that we doubt his majesty or power or even that He can calm the storms or work the miracles -- it's that we doubt He cares!
Jesus didn't mind being awakened to calm the storm. In fact, I'm sure it was something He was glad to do. But I can imagine that He looked at them with such amazement after all they'd seen Him do and the relationship that they had with Him, that they would doubt that He cared about them.
My friend, Jesus cares. He cares so much about us that He numbers the hairs on our heads and numbers the days of we have to live on this planet. He cares so much that every tear we cry is captured in His hands. He cares so much that He gave His life for us so we'd never have to experience eternal death but in doing so gave us the gift of eternal life with Him. He cares so much that He calls us His friends - His adopted children - joint heirs with Him...and yet, we doubt he cares when a storm comes into our lives.
Storms come in life. Jobs are lost. People hurt. Weather is unpredictable. Sickness comes. Mistakes are made. Words are said. We live in a broken and sinful world. Jesus sees it all, understands it all and holds all of it in the palm of His beautiful nail-scarred Hands.
So when the weather gets dark and scary - cherish His Words -- hold them close when the winds blow and the lightning crashes and the thunder roars. Never hesitate in running to Him for cover - but never doubt that He cares for you and what happens to you...He loves you!!
http://www.twitvid.com/4W6PU - here's a video of the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa today -- it's goes just beside Bryant Denny stadium -- it makes that HUGE structure appear to be dwarf-like....
Until tomorrow...stay safe...stay wise...stay in the Word...and be blessed not stressed! Love ya! Amy
Anytime, storms rage around me there are two passages in Scripture that come to mind.
The first is found Psalm 8 -- "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
This Psalm calms my spirit in storms because it's such a clear reminder of Who made the earth and Who is completely in control of all that happens and all Who are His. A tornado came over our house a couple of years ago. I've never heard anything like it before and it was so strong and so powerful it truly made me tremble for about an hour after the storm was over. I've never felt so small or so helpless in my life and I remember crying out to God in that moment for protection. I could hear the trees groaning as the fell behind our home in the woods and the next morning, I was amazed at the destruction all around our city. I was more amazed that our home had very little damage. A few shingles lifted and some hail damage but as close as that tornado was to our home, there's no doubt it could have destroyed it in a moments' flash.
I remember being afraid - but my fear wasn't terror. I was afraid because there was nothing I could do to control it. There was nothing I could do to stop it and there was nothing else I could do to protect any of my possessions. I was alone (my husband was at work) except for the company of my two precious dogs who were peacefully sleeping and unaware of what was going on around them...the house was so dark I couldn't carry them to the "safe place" with me without risking falling down the stairs. I remember standing at the base of my staircase calling them and seeing the green sky and torrential rain and hail falling in drifts around me. It was so loud it was deafening...I knew the only One who could hear me was God and I cried out to Him.
When the storm passed, the quiet was unnerving. It was so cold and so quiet and dark with no power. I walked outside just to see if anyone else was going to join me -- no one. The streets were pitch black, the yard was wet and slick and all I could see from the moonlight through the clouds were the deep drifts of hail next to the trees and leaves and limbs everywhere. It was almost paralyzing...hard to breathe even. The smell of broken trees and fallen power lines was strong and the birds were completely silent.
The awesomeness of God's Majesty was so apparent to me in living through this storm. I'll never forget it and since that time, I always return to this Psalm when these storms arise.
The second passage comes from Mark 4:35-40. "That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
I think what stands out to me so much in this passage is that Jesus was asleep during this bad storm and he was in the stern of the boat, which would have been rough and rocky. He wouldn't have been dry by the nature of the style of boat they'd have been in but He was asleep on a pillow (cushion) AND the disciples woke Him up to tell Him about it. There's something about this that just makes me smile. I appreciate Jesus' sense of humor so much and I believe that He was fully aware of what was going on and committed to resting and knew that the disciples would come to Him for rescue. I believe that when He got up He may have even rolled His eyes and walked up on deck to rebuke the storm as a parent would a fussy child but he had a little smile on His face when He did it. Notice that Jesus didn't fuss at the disciples for coming to him. Notice that the weather obeyed Him. Notice that Jesus merely asked them why they were afraid and still didn't have faith. I love that!
If you go back to the very beginning of this passage, the disciples had been with Jesus seeing him perform miracles of healing and restoration - they had heard him preach to enormous crowds -- ALL DAY LONG!!! and yet...a storm comes up and they still ran to Him to "fix it" and were so bold to ask if he cared about their safety...
I ask you, don't we do the same thing? We spend time worshipping and celebrating His goodness, which is wonderful -- and then something happens to "rattle our cages" and we doubt God cares about us. It's not that we doubt his majesty or power or even that He can calm the storms or work the miracles -- it's that we doubt He cares!
Jesus didn't mind being awakened to calm the storm. In fact, I'm sure it was something He was glad to do. But I can imagine that He looked at them with such amazement after all they'd seen Him do and the relationship that they had with Him, that they would doubt that He cared about them.
My friend, Jesus cares. He cares so much about us that He numbers the hairs on our heads and numbers the days of we have to live on this planet. He cares so much that every tear we cry is captured in His hands. He cares so much that He gave His life for us so we'd never have to experience eternal death but in doing so gave us the gift of eternal life with Him. He cares so much that He calls us His friends - His adopted children - joint heirs with Him...and yet, we doubt he cares when a storm comes into our lives.
Storms come in life. Jobs are lost. People hurt. Weather is unpredictable. Sickness comes. Mistakes are made. Words are said. We live in a broken and sinful world. Jesus sees it all, understands it all and holds all of it in the palm of His beautiful nail-scarred Hands.
So when the weather gets dark and scary - cherish His Words -- hold them close when the winds blow and the lightning crashes and the thunder roars. Never hesitate in running to Him for cover - but never doubt that He cares for you and what happens to you...He loves you!!
http://www.twitvid.com/4W6PU - here's a video of the tornado that hit Tuscaloosa today -- it's goes just beside Bryant Denny stadium -- it makes that HUGE structure appear to be dwarf-like....
Until tomorrow...stay safe...stay wise...stay in the Word...and be blessed not stressed! Love ya! Amy
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