The Great Calm

July 1, 2014

The Great Calm

“And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. And they went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:23-27 (ESV)

Have you ever noticed that when we follow Jesus as the disciples did…stormy seas often accompany the trip?

The Sun Shower

I can remember the days of playing during the summers in Corpus Christi where I spent my first eight years of life. The gulf breeze provided comfortable summer-time temperatures as well as creating and hosting some interesting weather events. One of the most fun and memorable weather conditions occurred when the afternoon rains came from stormy clouds covering part of the beautiful blue sky while the sun was still visible and shining… This weather phenomenon is called a Sun shower; one of the most incredible outcomes of this event is often a beautiful rainbow…I can remember the sense of awe as my friends and I would stand outside on our sidewalk and giggle at the summer storm as it suddenly erupted, the rain showers falling from the rain clouds while the sun shone brilliantly across the street…And then, we stood in amazement, as the magnificent rainbow appeared and stretched across the gulf sky…

In 1961, our region suffered from one of the most devastating hurricanes to hit the Gulf area, Hurricane Carla, which ranks as one of the most intense Category Five storms to hit the U.S. I will never forget the preparation which our city underwent and my parent’s preparation for the massive storm which threatened the area…My parents opted not to evacuate…and I remember the days vividly…the power of the winds…the sound of the pelting rain…the thrashing branches of the tall trees which towered over our two-story house…My father and I sat out on our porch at points of the storm and watched as the winds bent the tops of the massive trees toward the ground…But, they did not break…I can remember recognizing at that point that there were forces in this world which possessed power and strength that were beyond anything that I could imagine…But, I remember not being afraid…Even as we watched the fury of the sea in the approach of the powerful and devastating storm, I was not afraid.

“Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:26

I remember that sense of ‘calm’ which came after the storm barreled through and after the howling winds and the torrential rains dissipated…truly, a ‘calm’…This storm became a point of reference for me.

Then, as we traveled to the Cayman Islands during our children’s lives, we once again found ourselves contending with the beautiful and the daunting sea. We have many memories of the nor’westers which were powerful storms blowing from the northwest as well as the hurricanes which threatened the small islands. The nor’westers would create an angry, rough, and often violent sea causing the waves to literally crash against the beach…During one of the storms which hit unexpectedly one night, we awoke to find our anchored boat beached and parts strewn up and down the sand…a real boat wreck! And I remember the sense of ‘calm’ as the storm dissipated. This storm became a point of reference for me.

“What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?”

On Thursday, June 12, powerful storms hit the Austin and surrounding areas, including tornadoes, hail, damaging straight-line winds, power outages, some damaged structures and many uprooted trees. The large trees were literally ripped out of the ground from the powerful winds. Many of our trees lost large branches as the power-filled winds sustained their momentum as they traveled through miles of the Hill Country. Storm warnings spread through the area to the point of driving many people who were in the path of the potential danger(including us) into closets and other safe havens…We laughed because one friend insisted on keeping us informed of the Spur’s score, in the midst of the storm texting the updates. Once again, that feeling of knowing that although we feel like our society can and does control so much of life…the truth is that we are meek and powerless in the face of creation…and of the Creator. And I remember the sense of ‘calm’ as the storm dissipated.

Through the years as I have read scripture and the accounts of the massive storms which confronted the people…I find myself using the points of reference which I have experienced in my life-time. One thing that I have not experienced is being a passenger on a vessel in the midst of the furious seas, caught in the storm… But what I have experienced…what we all have experienced, is being in the midst of the “storms of life”…the raging, crashing winds that sometimes come up totally unexpectedly…Other times, there is a little time for preparation, knowing that the storm is on the way. The death of loved ones, catastrophic illnesses, lost relationships, financial disasters, wayward children, hurt feelings, loneliness… But, we all have the occasional storms as well as the stormy seasons of life, because we are people, living in this world…I love how Jesus reminds us that in this world we will have trouble…we will have sorrow…we will have trials…we absolutely will…

And we do…You do…I do…This past week-end, we experienced our own Sun shower…which also was a storm…and I would add that it was more of a Sun-storm…We found ourselves celebrating life, the upcoming birth of our first grandson, with one of our children and her spouse…and grieving with our other child and his wife over a lost pregnancy…Our worlds collided…and for some reason on Friday, I found myself thinking about the Sun shower, or Sun storm, remembering from my childhood the moments when the thunder rumbled through our neighborhood and the rains pelted while the sun shone across the way…Much of life is filled with sunshine…Much of life is filled with storms…And sometimes, sometimes, they occur simultaneously…I know you have been there also…All of us have been visited by these moments, days, weeks, seasons of life… so there is no need for further explanation…And, I was reminded about how Jesus handled the storms…

The Great Calm

I love the question that the disciples asked as they witnessed and experienced the ‘calm’ which Jesus commanded over the stormy sea…

“What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?”

And I ask that question as well? What sort of man can speak to the raging, violent, crashing sea and command that it be still? It is the same man that defied the cultural tenets and healed and cleansed the leper by reaching out His hand to touch the outcast. It is the same man who healed a servant…It is the same man who forgave a sinful woman…It is the same man who took a little girl by the hand and lifted her from death, to life…It is the same man who restored Peter, the denier…It is the same man who, in righteous anger, drove greedy opportunists and money-changers from the temple courts…It is the same man who welcomed and loved the children…It is the same man who died the cruelest death on the cross, although completely and totally innocent…It is the same man who is God Almighty…the same man who loved me…who forgave me…who gives me Hope…the same man who calms the storms in my life…the same man who calms the storms in your life…The same man who does not leave us in the midst of the storm…but instead, stays with us in it, through it, out of it…It is the same man, the same God who promises that He will never leave or will never forsake us…It is the same man who conquered the grave …It is the same man who got up…It is the same man who returned to His rightful place at the right Hand of His Father…your Father…my Father…and it is the same man who promised that He will return again…He is the Son of God, Yeshua Christ.

“What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?”

It is the same man who is walking with my friend who is battling breast cancer…through her surgeries…through her treatments…And she has discovered the Sun shower…she has discovered that even while the storm is raging around her and in her body, the sun is shining with blessings beyond measure…she and her husband have discovered this and they verbalize their faith-filled story.

It is the same man who is still walking with another friend who has battled bouts of cancers for almost thirty years…defying each medical prognosis, through surgeries, through treatments, through miracles…And she smiles with faith and with confidence because He has not left her side…Yeshua Christ.

It is the same man who walked with our former pastor and his wife as they, years ago, lost their beautiful little girl through a tragedy that almost took the lives of his wife and son as well…and it is the same man who empowered them to forgive the perpetrator…

It is the same man who will hold the broken hearts of our son and daughter-in-love as they cry their tears, wipe their eyes, and march forward in life, as loving parents to their daughters…Yeshua Christ.

It is the same man who empowers you and who empowers me…who calms the crashing, thrashing winds and the pounding rains and the storms in our lives…Yeshua Christ.

It is the same man…the same God who chases after His children…then draws them under His wing and nestles them close to His heart…in the midst of the raging storm…in the midst of the crashing wind and the crashing waves…in the midst of the grief…the pain…the heart-breaks…the disappointments…the tragedies of life…He is the same one who never lets go…who says,

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NASB)

This is the man who promises each one of us victory and eternity in Him, through Him, and with Him…

Yes, even while the storm rages around us…the sun is shining with blessings beyond measure.

And our family, through the years, has witnessed the faithfulness of this man, Yeshua Christ, our God…and we have a testimony of the Sun showers….which now, we call the ‘Son-showers’…knowing that although the storms may rage… the Son is present and shining…and knowing from experience, that the rainbow appears most often after this amazing weather phenomenon…the amazing Life miracle.

On Friday morning following the Austin storms, I was driving out of the driveway, anxious to survey other potential damage. I slowed down as I came to the garden…There stood this mighty sun-flower plant…standing proud and tall…having literally weathered the straight-line winds which had raged against the front of our house…but the sun-flower was unscathed…not even bending…and the beautiful blooms were brilliant against the morning sky.

It is fascinating to me that the large, deeply rooted trees succumbed to the powerful winds…and the beautiful sunflower plant not only stood straight and tall following the storm, but the blooms, all of them, seemed to have remained intact. And for me, the sunflower is one of God’s most beautiful ‘garden’ gifts…I call them the happy flowers because they seem to appear where nothing else will grow…and where the ground is parched and cracked…and where the storms of life have raged and pounded…and where the winds ripped and snatched…and there it stood on that morning…a reminder that the ‘calm’ had come…the storm was over…and life had beauty and meaning through the One who stills the storm…because ultimately, we are His and we have the Hope of Heaven, in His presence…This is the man who promises each one of us victory and eternity in Him, through Him, and with Him…Yeshua Christ.

And He is the man who also brings the joys of life as well…and we celebrate the Son—and we celebrate the showers…the storms…and we thank our Almighty God for the Hope…because we know that although storms will rage, the sun is shining…and, there will always be the Shining Son…blessing us…loving us…holding us…calming the storm…ultimately gathering us to Himself into His eternal calm.

Today, perhaps you and I will glimpse the rainbow…or perhaps, the tall stately sunflower…but no doubt…the Son of God shines on you, His daughter, His son, His child…no doubt…May we all watch for the beautiful reminders of His presence…

“The person who rules righteously, who rules in the fear of God, He is like the light of the morning, like the sunrise bursting forth in a cloudless sky, like the refreshing rains that bring tender grass from the earth.” 2 Samuel 23:4

This man, this Son of God asks that we follow Him…wherever He leads… Have you ever noticed that when we follow Jesus as the disciples did…stormy seas often accompany the trip?

And, have you noticed and observed and experienced that when we follow Jesus, the storms rage…but the Son of God, Yeshua Christ, Jesus speaks with His authority and there is a great calm…

Our Loving Savior, Yeshua Christ is the Light of morning, and the sunrise bursting forth…the refreshing Rain…He is Life…He is Truth…He is “The Great Calm”…

Praying for each one of you as you live life…

Abundant Joy,