Rembrandt on Jesus in the midst of the Storm
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Storms will assault our lives. We feel the storms of culture, of politics, of battles in our homes with sinful, immature people, (including us), in church, in almost all of the aspects of life. Yet, Jesus was the storm calmer. This year as I go into my new year, I am pondering how to allow Him to calm my storms, to give me perspective on how to see the circumstances of my life.
I have been thinking about Him, weary from ministry, constantly surrounded by the companionship and noise and engagement of life with young, bold, opinionated men and women. Yet, He, sleeping, quiet, at peace in the storm. Like a baby, warm, deep breath sleep, soundly at rest--restoring, trusting, fret-free existence in the calm of slumber.
How? How did He find rest? I want that rest.
Perhaps, He, Knowing that his beloved Father loves him and will care for Him. Knowing the Father knows all things and is the transcendent, creator, ruler, compassionate, trustworthy One gave him the ability to put all of his anxiety and worry in the capable hands of his Father, and he found the peace, the space to allow His body to rest. .
In my storms, I am timid, fragile, fearful, doubting.
He knew I would need Him, picturing for me the peace that passes understanding amidst the gales and torrential, unrelenting issues of life, so that two thousand years beyond I would have a image of what it means to rest in the storm.
"that they may know that you have loved them, even as you have loved me." John 17:23--He who loved and cared for Jesus in his storm, loves me just as much.
He who was with Jesus, is with me.
leaving me a psalm, a song to know I am secure:
Psalm 91
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that [a]stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 [b]For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your [c]tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the [d]serpent you will trample down.
14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in [e]trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 “With [f]a long life I will satisfy him
And [g]let him see My salvation.”
He is still the calm in the midst of storms, the peace and rest in the torrents, the comfort and lover and One who is powerful above all and still says to the powers that threaten, "Be still."
So, today, I am seeking to be in that vortex of peace, beauty, rest, calm because He is here with me.
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