Luke 8: 22-24 “One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing 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 all around.”
It was an early morning flight that would normally be uneventful, but today was different. As ten of us boarded the thirty seat propeller driven airplane, the flight attendant asked if we would all sit in the back portion of the plane to balance the load.
Once I settled into a seat, I tried to close my eyes as the smell of fuel and the sound from the start of the engines filtered through the compartment. I glanced at my watch and thought, “Wow, we are getting an early start.”
As we climbed up to 15,000 feet then leveled off, I tried to catch a few moments of sleep. Suddenly, the plane began to bounce and drastically move side to side. As I looked out of the window in the early twilight hours, I could see before us an approaching thunderhead cloud.
Immediately, I remembered that in my morning quiet time with the Lord I had forgotten one thing. “Lord, forgive me of the things I’ve done wrong.” The more we bounced around the more I became sincere in making sure that I had everything covered and was at peace with the Lord. What seemed like hours later (but was only minutes), the plane rose above the clouds and all became stable.
Now out my window I could see the sun rising and the soft billowy clouds below the plane. All was at peace at 17,000 feet above the earth. In our lives we often live each day and forget to talk to the Lord about either trivia or important issues that could impact our lives.
It is not until a storm in life starts to bounce us around that we remember to petition Him for help. The Lord does not always lift us out of the storm, but does give us a peace that He is in charge of all things.
As we go through life we come to expect bounces and unstable times, and we pray that we can find a way around the storm. The reality is that sometimes we must just go through the storm. We are not always protected from the storms but we can know that our relationship with the Lord can bring us peace.
When you have friends going through rough times try not to give them a pat answer like, “Just turn to God”, because they knew that answer before they talked to you. Instead, just love them where they are at that moment and pray for them to get that peace.
The reality of life is that I have peace in my soul while going through the rough weather of life, but on this plane flight it was not until the plane was taxiing into the gate that my blood pressure went back to normal.
The Lord is still working on me for total piece and understanding in all situations as I sometimes get anxious about life situation, an unfinished work of the Lord’s art.
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