Desired Haven

What if you were one of Jesus’ disciples in the stormy sea when Jesus calmed the water by saying three words: “Peace, be still”? You would probably breathe a sigh of relief. Calm would probably engulf your body making your grip loosen, and your shoulders relax, and your muscles unwind. Spa time!

King David also wrote about this same scenario and the same feeling. I think that though we are not fisherwomen out on the stormy sea, we all have those moments when all we want is a little calm.

Psalm 107:23-31

Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
They saw the deeds of the LORD,
his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!

Those words really struck my heart as I read them this past week. I remember crying out to the Lord in my trouble and distress. I remember telling God that I felt like I was in a rushing river going toward the waterfall and all I could think of was just for God to let me pass a branch I could grab and hold onto before I went over the edge. I know that is a run on sentence but go back and read it as fast as you can and that is how I felt.

I know that I’m not the only one who has felt the storm of life.  You may have had this life hurricane and reeled and staggered your way at your wit’s end just trying to make it through the day. It’s in those times you and I cried to the Lord, “Give me a branch! Give me a branch!”

But our Lord God is greater than the storm. He doesn’t give a branch. He stops the tempest. We realize that He has delivered us to a safe harbor or our desired haven.

Our Deliverer has taken us into the middle of His love for us.

Let us always be thankful for His steadfast love in the storm and in the safe harbor.

He will deliver us to our desired haven…His arms.

Wait Like a Tree

After a friend asked me to paint a picture of a giant oak tree for her I started noticing trees. And I started thinking about trees. And I started looking at trees.

Trees are pretty wonderful. They all started from a seed, even the really big ones. Then they just grew. Rain and sun helped but mostly it was years that made the huge ones what they are today.

Years of just growing. Years of just being what God created them to be. I know it sounds a little sappy (yes, pun intended) but I never really thought about trees in the perspective of years, decades, and centuries before. With these thoughts in mind, I drove around town one day to find really large trees and wonder how long they had been there just growing and waiting.

In my quest to see giant trees I realized that God wants to take the time to make us into His ultimate design like He has taken His time with trees. He wants us to learn what doesn’t come fast and natural to us. Sin is natural for us (and fast before you realize it.) Godliness takes time. Some of us take longer than others to learn our God brought lessons. I'm glad God is a patient teacher and will pursue us even when we don’t want to pursue Him.

Trees are teaching me to wait. Trees are teaching me to look behind and see what God did with a seed like me and to look to the future to see the tree I will become. I know I’m taking the tree analogy a little too far, but when you just stop and look at trees you get the sense of the Creator and a sense of the created.

Joyce Kilmer Got it right.

Trees

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree… (skip some)

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray…(skip some)

Poems are made by fools like me

But only God can make a tree.

And looking at God all day and constantly lifting our prayers to Him is a great and glorious thing. Kind of like a tree. We wait and watch and learn and grow.

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

We can fly and run and walk unlike trees. But we must all wait. Wait for God to grow us into His likeness.

Wait like a tree.

Make Sure You’re In the Correct Line

Something wonderful happened to me when I printed out my boarding pass for a recent airline flight. It had “TSA” written at the top. I love those letters when I fly. That means I go in the short line and the whole process of check-in is so much easier. The workers don’t treat me like a would-be meanie. I always feel so intimidated and guilty when they do that. But this time I had a happy experience.

Not so for the elderly couple in front of me. They were in the TSA line but didn’t have the TSA clearance. They couldn’t understand why they had to go to the end of the other long, long line and start over. They were surprised and shocked. I mean, really, who would suspect these people? There they stood with shoes in hand, one carry-on apiece, and a little baggie of liquids. Weren’t they doing every right? Yes. Did they meet the demands of airport security? No.

I thought of That Day when Jesus lines us up to be evaluated to enter His kingdom.

(Jesus said) Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you, depart from Me, You workers of lawlessness.” Matthew 7:21-23

You see? It’s not what you have done for Jesus. It’s what Jesus has done for you. God the Father’s will is that you accept the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as atonement for you sin and surrender yourself to His leading in your life. You can’t do works, no matter how wonderful, to earn that.

The elderly couple was not in the correct line. They didn’t meet the standard, no matter how much work they had done to follow the rules. They had to go in the other line.

Without Christ’s salvation accepted there is no entrance in heaven, not matter how many wonderful Godly works you have done.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

It’s not “TSA.” It’s “HAS” – Heavenly Admittance Security

Make sure you’re in the correct line.