With only 26 days to go in this hurricane season, and it looks
like we have been spared for this round!
In fact it has been an unusually quiet season . . . and you won’t find any of us Floridians
complaining about that! Yet it was just a year ago that the northeast was hit
by hurricane Sandy. While watching
recent news coverage on Sandy’s first anniversary I was struck by the power of
the storm and the extent of the damage she inflicted. There are still neighborhoods trying to
recover! I can’t imagine how residents
felt as the storm hammered their communities around them, many as they sat
trapped in their homes! Can you imagine that feeling? There was little they could
do but wait, hope and pray. They had absolutely no control of that hurricane or
the destruction it would cause.
Most of you are probably feeling a level of loss of control
in your lives. It may come from a
financial problems, broken relationships, illness, loss of job…. Is there anything that you can do? Yes, there is! "Be still!"
How is it that we can "be still" when life seems
out of control? We can be still because
there is never a micro-second in time that our heavenly Father is not totally
in control of every aspect of our lives.
We can "be still" because though it may seem that our lives
are out of control, they are never out of His control.
Yet to most of us theologian types, who cognitively
understand the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, don't debater whether He is in
control, but rather struggle with the fact that we are not in control. We love to be in control! We want life to go the way that we want it. Thus when the storms of life come our way, we
get upset because we lose control and we get upset at God because He let it
happen. As a result we are not only
stressed out over the loss of control, but we are mad at God too! There is definitely no stillness at that
point!
Thus when the hurricanes of life hit and life goes out of
control, take the time to confess your own personal control problem and then
rest in the fact that you are a child of the Sovereign God who works all
circumstances for your good! Does it
feel like your life is sliding out of control?
Take a few minutes, grab your Bible and meditate on Romans 8 and Psalm 34. Then spend some time in worship by singing
the great old hymn "Be Still My Soul."
Bear patiently the cross of grief
or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and
provide;
In every change He faithful will
remain.
Be still my soul: thy best, thy
heavenly friend
Through thorny ways lead to a
joyful end.
Be still my soul: thy God doth undertake.
To guide the future as He has the
past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let
nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright
at last.
Be still my soul: the waves and wind still know
His voice who ruled them while He
dwelt below.
Be still my soul: the hour is hasting on
When we shall be forever with the
Lord,
When disappointment, grief and
fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, loves purest joys
restored.
Be still my soul: when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet
again!
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