A faint light greets my eyes as I blink them open. It is too early to be up on a weekend. Especially after a late campfire. I shut my eyelids again, but before I slip back into sleep I remember that there is something beautiful I will miss if I do that. As much as my body feels unready to rise, I know the experience will refresh me if I take the opportunity. So I rouse myself from bed, make some tea, grab a light jacket and my camera and head out the door of my parent’s cabin. I keep walking until I reach the end of the long dock. And then I wait. The world is still and quiet, waiting with me. Clouds are scattered across the grey expanse above with splashes of yellow in a variety of hues throughout. As I watch the western sky, a sliver of light breaks through the horizon line. A crimson blotch appears, then slowly turns to gold as it grows, rising and taking shape into a glowing orb. Birdsong breaks the stillness, echoing the joy I feel at the promise of a new day. I continue to sit and stare, basking in the peace of the moment. There is no one but me, God and His creation.
Ah, the peace of God’s presence… when I allow my soul to simply soak in God’s Holy Spirit. I can just be…
…when I forget about everything but God and His glory. His promises. His faithfulness. His enduring, steadfast love. That is when everything else falls into the background, and I can be still. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” I have found that if I put that in reverse, and meditate on God and who He is, it is only then that I can be still. Certainly a setting like the one described above helps, but I have also found the stillness in my living room, on my porch, while driving, in a coffee shop… Wherever it happens, that stillness is a sanctuary. A sanctuary where I praise God for who He is and for what He has done, and I look with hope toward a future where He will continue to be with me, to guide, to comfort, and to bless. There are no worries, no fears, no anxieties, no what ifs, no whys, and no buts in that stillness. Just God and the peace He gives. Do you need a sanctuary of peace from this world of trouble? Take the advice of the following verses. Find God and you will find peace. Philippians 4 6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (ESV) John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (ESV) {Linking with Kelli Woodford for Unforced Rhythms.}
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Step into a scene with me for a moment… on a boat in the Sea of Galilee, around 2,000 years ago…
As our boat journeyed over the waters, I closed my eyes to pause and just enjoy the moment. A warm breeze brushed my face, carrying the scents of sea and fish. The boat gently rocked in rhythm with the waves, soothing in its motion. Snatches of banter and laughter from my sailing companions reached my ears, and I smiled. This is the life, I thought. At the cry of a gull I opened my eyes and stared up to peer at it. As its wings beat up and down at a smooth, steady pace, I stared, transfixed by how it appeared to move so effortlessly, so freely, through the brilliant blue backdrop of sky. The gull dipped down close to the water, and I noticed the sunlight made the surface appear to be strewn with sparkling diamonds. As I continued to watch, clouds began to roll in, blocking out the rays of the sun. The sky darkened and the waters started to churn and rise. My companions were no longer laughing. Shouts and orders competed with the sounds of the storm. All sense of peace gone, I fought against growing panic. What chance did we have of survival amidst these crashing waves and howling winds? Huge waves tossed the boat about like it was a toy and water poured onto the deck. I carefully made my way across the lurching surface of the boat to help my fellow sailors until a thought stopped me in my tracks. Where is Jesus? When did I last seen him? I wiped seawater from my eyes and glanced about. I heard shouting from the direction of the stern and made my way there. What I found shocked me speechless for a moment before I joined in with the shouts of the others. Jesus sat with his head cushioned on his arm, his eyes closed. The wind whipped his hair and the waves sprayed him, and yet he slept! “Save us!” We cried. “We’re going to perish in the storm!” When all our shouting finally roused him, Jesus took a moment to give each of us a look in the eye. When he spoke, his tone was a mix of rebuke and reassurance in one. “Why are you so afraid? Where is your faith?” No one had an answer. We watched in awed silence as Jesus rose and faced the raging waves. With a voice that boomed so loud and commanding it could be heard even above the fury of the storm, Jesus cried out, “Peace! Be still!” The sea stilled, and the storm subsided. We looked at him, we looked at each other, and we could do nothing but marvel and wonder. This is one of my favorite snapshots of scripture, found in Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, and Luke 8:22-25. It convicts and reassures me at the same time. Life is full of storms. Storms that knock our boats off kilter and pitch them willly-nilly, making us question if we will ever see the shore again. I have weathered many storms. And each time a new one comes, I forget all about how I made it through the last one and worry that this one will tear apart the boat and leave me drifting and helpless. I tend to respond like the disciples, and forget about faith. And where does that get me? What does that accomplish? Nowhere and nothing. If I look at the rising water and roaring winds, then I fall into a panic and succumb to the stress. I fret and fear and grow weary with the worry. How long til the storm passes? Will I make it to the safety of the shore? What condition will I be in when I reach the shore? How am I going to get through this? What do I do? Why is this happening? These questions can go around and around with no answers in sight as the storm keeps raging on. And I just keep wondering whether I can weather this storm. And all this questioning and striving for solutions gets me is restlessness, headaches, an inability to concentrate, sleep deprivation, and a complete loss of relaxation or enjoyment of any activity. Can you relate? Well, the good news is there is a much better way… It’s all about my focus. Is it on the waves and the wind, or the one who commands the waves and wind? When I finally choose to look at God, His promises, and how He has helped me in the past, it is then, and only then, that I am at peace. This verse has proven true for me time and again, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4 This requires a deliberate shift in thinking. It is not easy at first, but once you do it, oh the joy! What helps me is to look through scripture – there are so many wonderful treasures in God’s word. The Psalms are one of my “go to” places when I need uplifting, but there are several encouraging snippets sprinkled throughout the scriptures that are soul-soothing. I also look back at how God has been faithful in the past – to me personally, and what is recorded in bible stories. In fact, that idea itself is in the bible: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” Psalm 77:11 And sometimes it helps to put myself in a bible story and make it come alive, like I did with the above story. While the storms won’t stop coming, and they won’t always pass swiftly or easily, as long as I can see Jesus in the boat with me, I have the strength to make it. What helps you hold on to Jesus? As America just celebrated its Independence Day, I have been mulling on the subject of freedom.
I’m going to refrain from comment about the history of this holiday, as it is not relevant to the direction I want to take with this post. So, before a rant or lecture ensues, on to the actual focus of this post. …freedom… First of all, what is the definition? According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freedom, freedom is the quality or state of being free as: a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : independence c : the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous <freedom from care> There are some wonderful sounding words in there… liberation, independence, released… You could say that freedom is the opposite of being enslaved. The opposite of being weighed down by burdens. The opposite of being bound or trapped. Sometimes we don’t realize how bound we are until we’ve been set free. And sometimes we understand too well how captive we are but have no idea how to get the key for release. I spent several years longing for that key, not realizing how close it was. Then there would be times that I stopped looking, believing that I was just fine. But then a collision would reveal there were still prison bars in the way. It was a horrible cycle, and there did not appear to be any hope of any kind of real release. Until at last I understood what true freedom was, not just a temporary escape that would end up re-routing back to the beginning. What was that key? Or perhaps the better question would be, who was the key? It was Jesus. He’d been there all along, I just took a long time to see it. He gives the only lasting freedom. As He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 Now I want to make an important distinction. It was not a religious act that set me free. It is a relationship with Jesus – that is what true Christianity is all about, and what the bible teaches. (I’m not going to go any deeper into that topic now but will save it for another post.) I’m going to get a bit more personal just to show that I’m not simply trying to throw out some Sunday school fluff or a religious bandaid. I really do get the difference between captivity and freedom and have gone through both. I went from being an A and B student to getting on academic probation one semester because of skipping classes and not doing the assignments – which was a result of depression. One semester after college let out I spent a month holed up in my room at my parent’s house, hardly stepping foot outside because of anxiety and depression. I have been so depressed that all I had energy for was lying in bed crying. I have been under such anxiety that it caused pain that felt like a knife ripping apart my soul. I have been in such fear that all I could do was curl in a fetal position and whimper. And I have yelled at God and hated Him and told Him to leave me alone. But when I got to where all other options were empty and no answers were satisfying, I looked for God and cried out to Him, and He was waiting, ready to save me. Jesus Christ has given me true, lasting freedom. Do I still get depressed? Yes. Anxious? Yes. Fearful? Yes. But that is because life is a battle, even as a Christian. Christians go through stress just like everyone else. But there is a difference. By being set free in Christ, even in difficult circumstances, I am able to rest when I trust Him. My soul can have peace. If I am stressing out then it is because I have taken my focus off of God. “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 Jesus has indeed set me free, but I have to look to Him, keep up my relationship with Him, to keep living in that freedom. And how does one keep up a relationship with an invisible God? I'm glad you asked. Just as you would keep up any relationship, stay in contact. Listen to Him - through His Word and His Holy Spirit, which you have if you are a true believer in Christ. Talk to Him - pray. It doesn't have to be poetic or impressive, just honest. And in keeping such lines of communication open you will find strength, peace, freedom and joy given by God's Spirit. He may be invisible, but His power and presence are very real. Will it always be easy to trust God and remain in this relationship? No, because the stresses of life get in the way. But even when it gets difficult, it's not burdensome. What is burdensome is giving someone or something other than God the place of master. That is being subject again to a yoke of slavery, as in the verse above. Jesus is the only master who grants freedom as you serve Him. Don’t just settle for escape. Grab a hold of freedom. Escape is temporary. It can be found in money, drugs, other people, and other things. But it never solves anything and it never lasts. God gives the only permanent freedom. |
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Please respect my intellectual property and ask permission before reproducing any content. All rights reserved. AuthorHi, I am Angela, and welcome to my blog. I am a woman trying to rise above the tides of this life, seeking to grow closer to God and share His love in the process. Archives
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