Annie
Scriptures: Luke 8:22–25 Matthew 8:23–27 Mark 4:36–41 John 6:16–21 John 14-16 Mark 12:30
A storm like no other whipped the water into a frenzy of foam and turbulent walls of water. With the force of a giant cypress, the waves crashed on to the boat. There was nothing any of the men in the boat could do, they were utterly at the mercy of the God of all creation, Who lay asleep in the back of the boat. With the same assurance that this Word made flesh, had spoken “let there be light”, He had stated that they were going to the other side of the now raging sea. And no storm was going to prevent that, however tumultuous it would be.
What blessed assurance this is, what utter trust to aspire to. No external force or circumstance could shake the calm that poured from Christ that day, the calm that overflowed as He spoke to the turbulent winds and waves, and there was instantly a “great calm” as the storm ceased.
What was it that caused the disciples to shake Jesus awake, to berate Him that He didn’t care that they were going to die? It was fear that gripped them, feelings of total helplessness and desperation, of everything being beyond their control. Yes, the storm was very real, physically, awfully real. But it was what was going on in their minds and hearts that caused them to forget Who was with them in that boat, and what He had said “let us go to the other side”.
In those wonderful chapters 14 to 16 in John’s gospel, Jesus explains, encourages and assures His followers, including us, that He has to return to the Father, and when He does, He will send the Comforter to us. The Comforter who will always and forever be in us, with us, beside us, before us, behind us, never leaving us alone to face the storms.
Sometimes a baby can be fully fed, changed, warm and cosy, but still cries, until they are picked up, cuddled and rocked, comforted in loving arms. The sobs recede, the breathing becomes calm and even, and suddenly all is well with the baby’s world. All they needed was comforting.
In our big grown up world, we can appear to have all that we need for our life to be ok, but there is still a void, a feeling that something is missing. We can appear to be coping when things start to go awry, when circumstances conspire to destroy our cosy lives, when storms threaten to overwhelm us. But, inside, we are screaming “don’t You care, God, that everything is falling apart?”. This is when we need to have that assurance deep within our hearts that we are not alone, that our Comforter is with us, and He is longing, yearning for us to allow Him to comfort us.
All of the clamour and incessant striving that today’s society would have us fall victim to, can only be counteracted by us allowing God to be Who He says He is in our lives. He has promised to be with us no matter where we are, even if we try and run away from Him, He will never lose us, never abandon us. One of the “buzz” words I keep hearing today is mindfulness, and whenever I think of that, I bring myself back to Christ’s words, originally from Deuteronomy, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,, with all your soul, with all your MIND and with all your strength”. To know what the Comforter can do for us, we need to empty our minds of everything except loving God, with every fibre of our being, our minds need to be full of active, potent love for our God. Our mindfulness is to be ever mindful of not placing any other god before Him.
When we are able to take our eyes off the storms that assail us, we will see that Holy Spirit is where we have been told He always is, patiently waiting, quietly and ceaselessly working on our behalf, ready to comfort, assure and simply hold us.
Prayer: Abba Father, You are Holy, set apart from all the tumult and noise, all praise and worship goes to You for Your great, ever-present faithfulness and love. You are our Comfort in the whirlpool of emotions and fears, our stillness and peace. We give You thanks and adoration. Amen