Jesus Stills the Storm
“23 And when Jesus got into the boat, His disciples followed him. 24 A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but He was asleep. 25 And they went and woke Him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm. 27 They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him” Matthew 8:23-27?
How do we calm the troubled waters churning within ourselves? The pitched-fork battles that characterize our social interactions these days — as a nation and as a church — cry out for healing. The neuralgic divisions over social policy and the obvious lack of fair play in public discourse are not going to be solved overnight. Healing must start with a personal commitment to examine our own lives.
Today I invite you to examine your lives. The most important and very helpful step to take is to be faithful to some space and time each day of quiet, where you can be present to God. If we don’t step back from the swirl of social media messages and the emotions going on around us, we’re not going to get sufficient distance to see reality more objectively. This is the only way to sort out truth from falsehood or half-truth. And, we’re not going to experience the peace in ourselves that the world needs so much to receive from us.
“If we’re going to be able to make some positive contribution in life, we first have to be faithful to a regular time of placing ourselves before God and asking Christ for His grace. We need the grace of Jesus Christ to see ourselves, to see other people, to see the world and all that’s going on, and even to see the demonic, as they are and, with the eyes of Christ, to learn what it is He wants me personally to try to do that reverses, in some small way, and counters evil with good.
Take time today, then, and every day, in the same quiet place and at the same time, to sit in God’s presence. Practice emptying your mind of distracting thoughts and simply be in the presence of God. Bring your Bible and have it close by, opened to where you read yesterday. Read a sentence or two, and stop at a word from the Lord, and bring that to Christ in your quiet time. most of all, just sit in the presence of God and think of only Jesus who is always present.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
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