Luke 8:22-26
One Day he got into a boat with his disciples and he said to
them let us go across to the other side of Lake so they put out, and while that
was selling he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat
was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him
up shouting master, master, we are perishing! And he woke up and rebuked the
wind and the raging waves; they ceased and there was a calm. He said to them,
where is your faith? They were afraid and amazed and said to one another, who
then is this that he commands even the Wind and the Water and they obey him?
Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
We had been in the Sea of Galilee all of 15 minutes as our boat was turning around and we begin to
head back towards the shore someone said pejoratively what would happen if a storm came
now, right out of nowhere? I looked down
at the amazingly calm waters of the Galilean sea and begin to take a quick
inventory of the width, and length of the sea of Galilee. Briefly gazing along
the shoreline and at other ships around us our
guide Ramseys told us the sea is over 150 feet deep. Realizing all of
this I began to envision how afraid the disciples must have been stuck out on
the sea in the middle of a horrible storm, nowhere to go, with no escape,
nothing to hold on to. The disciples only had three options 1) Panic, 2)Wait,
3) or call on Jesus!
As we travel through the Holy Land we have been privileged
to see great and historic places to our faith and the scriptures. We have been
allowed to travel freely, eat great cuisine and take advantage of all that
Israel has to offer. However we have also been challenged to the core of our
hearts. The liberties that we are experiencing
have been denied to many who have been born right here. Many Arabic
people born in the land live through daily storms. Storms filled with check
points, unfair laws, racism and oppression, many live in a situation not unlike
the twelve on the boat; where they can either panic, accept the situation and
wait or turn to God. Today I have come to the realization that we al will have enormous
storms in our life, that is a promise as sure as we need air to breathe. The
realization I have come to is that we are not to feel defeated in the storms,
it’s how we behave in the storms of our lives that give us power. I have been
encouraged at how the Arabic/ Palestinian people I have encountered have chosen to behave in the storm. They have
not been defeated but have called on God to empower them , and they have the
faith to endure until Justice prevails and ture love is unleashed in the land.
I pray that you and I can use the examples seen here and behave the same way in
the midst of our storms, by turning to God.
Finally, I remember the words or Rev. Charles Albert Tindely
“ In the midst of tribulation, stand by me. When the host of hell assail, and
my strength begins to fail, thou who never lost a battle, stand by me.” Dear
God remind us how you have never lost a battle,
remind us how you are with us during the storms of life giving freedom
to the captives and release from oppression for the oppressed. Show us how to behave during the storm.
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