Tag Archives: Storm

Wayfarer's Journal

The Calm Before the Storm

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Wendy and I spent a working vacation at the lake this past week. Our friends the VLs had been there for a family weekend when we arrived on Sunday and we got to spend an evening together before they headed home. I call it a working vacation because we both had work to do which was accomplished remotely on our laptops. It was also a working vacation because, while we enjoyed the quiet of the lake for a few days, there was a lot to do around the Playhouse. I power washed the deck and sealed it – a task I’d been putting off for two years. There was also a long list of little “honey dos” that we worked on throughout the week.

On Thursday Wendy and I took a personal respite, got out on the water, and enjoyed a meal at one of our favorite haunts. By Friday morning it was clear that I didn’t do a good job of putting sunscreen on. Yikes! My chest and belly were splotchy patches of alternating beet red burn and pasty white.

On Friday, our friend Cyndi arrived with Megan and Ben and we got to play for a few days. We enjoyed time on the water. I got to teach Megan how to drive the Waverunner. We watched movies and enjoyed an afternoon and evening meal at Bear Bottom Resort, one of our favorites.

Our friends left late on Sunday morning and Wendy and I had a couple of hours to get things cleaned up for our next round of guests. Newlyweds Michelle and Austin arrived to spend their honeymoon week at the Playhouse. I was also pleased to get Father’s Day phone calls from Madison in Colorado and from Taylor and Clayton in Uganda and enjoyed catching up with them.

So, the (semi-)calm week is over as I stare down a stormy couple of weeks with multiple business trips around the country along with some impending big deliveries for work.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Acts 27

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from nikonmania via Flickr

But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down. Acts 27:22 (NLT)

When I was growing up, my family and I vacationed each year on Rainy Lake. The large lake is a boundary water between Minnesota and Canada. Some years the entire camp of families would head out in a long flotilla, taking a day trip across the massive water to fish and enjoy one another’s company. The weather in that area of the country can be both beautiful and treacherous. I have vivid memories of being a child in one of the larger craft as our long line of boats hurriedly made our way back to camp amidst the rise of an unexpected gale. I can remember waves crashing over the bow of the boat and fearfully watching my dad, alone in his little john boat behind us, as it got battered by the rising waves.

While the storms I experienced in northern Minnesota are nothing to be compared with the life-threatening situations you’ll find on the open ocean, it nonetheless gives me an appreciation for the experiences related in today’s chapter. There is nothing quite like the  realization of being in a small craft on a large body of water in the midst of nature’s fury. It is an unbelievably helpless feeling.

How encouraging must it have been for the passengers and sailors to hear Paul’s assurances as the storm raged uncontrollably into its second week. It reminded me this morning of the assurances God’s Message provides to me, and to all who place their faith in Jesus:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 (NIV)

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. I Peter 1:6-7 (NIV)

Today I’m reminded that life is filled with unexpected storms of many kinds. I can’t control the weather, nor can I control life circumstances that swirl around me. I can, however, be assured that God will faithfully see me through the storm if I will faithfully seek after Him.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 22

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Storm. You looked and looked and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city, never once consulted the One who has long had plans for this city. Isaiah 22:11 (MSG)

I have a friend who is currently walking through an incredibly strong and powerful life-storm. His life is completely upside down, and as the storm circles around him the chaotic effects seem to multiply. As I walk beside him, I've been impressed at his response to all of the tragic events swirling around him. His heart aches, but I don't see him reaching for a pill, a drink, or a one night stand to dull the pain. He is not running from the storm. He is resolutely walking through it, and quietly seeking God's strength in each and every moment.

There is nothing like a crisis to reveal the condition of a person's heart. Where we look for strength and what we reach for to comfort our pain says a lot about who we are and where we stand in our relationship with God.

I love my friend, and I know he's going to be more than alright. These momentary circumstances are going to result in new depths of wisdom. That which is dying within him will be transformed to new life. His heart is fixed on God, and God is faithful. He'll be fine.

What saddens me are those who look, and look, and look in all sorts of places for an escape to life's pain, but never once consult the One who has eternal plans, good plans with a bright future, for those who will simply ask for it and have the faith to seek after it.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and ilhangendron