Peace in the midst of a storm

 The world is full of diverse storms. Everyone is in one storm or the other; pain, lack, loss, shame, illness, disappointment, death, failure, fear, stress, humiliation, conflict, etc.

We may not be able to escape these storms but we can find a way to be at peace in the midst of it all. It appears impossible but Jesus did it and He assured us that we can do much more than He did (John 14:12). If He was able to sleep through a raging storm, with all the fury and rage; so can we.


Mark 4:35-41

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”  Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

 There is no better way to learn being at peace than looking at the prince of peace himself. We can copy some of the attributes that enabled him sleep through the storm:

Faith: The disciples were so afraid that they had to find out whether Jesus didn't care if they drown. It appeared as if Jesus was being indifferent but the truth was that they wouldn't have drowned with Jesus in the boat. Jesus said to them, "do you still have no faith?" this means that all they needed was faith. Faith is our anchor. It is our assurance that though there is a storm now, there will be calmness soon. 

Patience: Jesus was never in a hurry. We need the ability to wait it out. Joy will certainly come in the morning, but the night is a long way to go. There is always this anxiety to hurry through the night and the anxiety always makes the storm look worse than it actually is. We need patience to bear all the provocations that life throws at us.

Humility: There was a kind of humility with which Jesus handled the issues of life. For instance, when the disciples woke him up, he attended to their need and calmed the storm first before he started admonishing them about their faithlessness. And he overlooked the accusation that it seems He didn't care. If it were to be us, we will not overlook that and let go easily. It is easier to be at peace in the midst of a storm when we do not hold on to life seriously with pride.

Confidence: The storm was furious, but Jesus didn't lose his cool; instead he confidently rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Our confidence is in the Lord for we know He hears us and cares about us. Let us therefore declare peace and calmness into our lives; and make up our minds that no matter the storm life throws at us, we will not lose our peace.

KAYCEE


You will love these videos👉Check them out👇https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf9OSsMGcs0bgGCrNrq8U4g


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SCHOOL OF BLISS part 1

 Let us do a little review of what we have learnt: 1. we tried to identify what we are worried about https://blissfullivingandlearning.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-do-you-worry-about.html 2. we looked at what we can do to get our minds off worries https://blissfullivingandlearning.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-do-you-do-to-get-your-mind-off.html 3. we identified how living in the moment is the best way to live https://blissfullivingandlearning.blogspot.com/2020/04/do-you-put-off-living-in-present-to.html 4. we saw how worry can lead to sickness and diseases https://blissfullivingandlearning.blogspot.com/2020/04/do-you-know-what-worry-can-do-to-you.html 5. we talked about how it is better to analyse your worry by writing down what you are worried about, what you can do about it, what you will do about it and when you will start doing it https://blissfullivingandlearning.blogspot.com/2020/04/what-can-you-do-about-your-worries.html 6. we saw how keeping busy can save us from despair https://bli
Read more

WHY YOU HAVEN’T RECEIVED WHAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR

Image
  1.    YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT:   We always pray for one thing or the other, but the truth is that sometimes we do not know what we really want. When Bartimaeus was calling on Jesus to have mercy on him, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" Every one could see the man was blind but he still had to say what he wanted, " Rabbi, I want to see ." It is a natural law, that you will want something for you to get it. 2.    YOU ARE NOT SPECIFIC AND CONSISTENT:   You have to be specific about what you want. If you want something from someone, you don’t just fret, cry or assume they know what you want. You tell them the exact thing you want. And naturally, consistency can’t be achieved in the absence of clarity. So you have to be clear and specific about what you want, and then apply constant pressure (consistency). Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town
Read more

Do you put off living in the present to worry about the future or the past?

Image
You may have a lot of things to do at once with little time to do it, to accomplish these tasks in a more efficient way, you will have to take it ONE TASK AT A TIME. By doing so, you will achieve more, save yourself from confusion and from physical and mental stress. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall; anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down." Everyday is a new life to a wise man. Forget about yesterday and stop thinking about tomorrow. Most of us put off living, we keep dreaming about the life in the future, instead of enjoying the life we have presently. As a child, you were dreaming about doing certain things when you grow up, when you grew up you decided to leave it for when you get married; now you are married and you are dreaming about the things you will do when your kids become grown ups and leave the house. When did you do what you are supposed to do at the stage where you a
Read more

Changing your perspective, 1.

Image
  Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6. As you were growing up, you were learning consciously and unconsciously. The things you saw, heard and felt gave you a thinking pattern which eventually formed your attitude. Over time, this repetition of thoughts, feelings and actions fashioned your believe and perspective. As you get older, you started realizing that you react in a certain way to certain issues. People around you are already aware of how you will respond to a question, what triggers you, what excites you and what suppresses you. Then you probably started associating with other people from different environments and you felt there may be better ways to respond to issues. You started questioning certain thoughts and behaviors that you were used to; you started changing the way you look at things. This paradigm shift in thinking is all you need on your quest for change. “Small shifts in your thinking, and small chan
Read more

You can overtake chariots

Image
  Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Acts 8:29-30 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  Isaiah 11:2     You have the spirit of God in you. That same spirit that enabled Philip to run up to a chariot is in you. He makes you wiser than your teachers, strengthens you in your areas of weakness and reveals hidden things to you. What changes do you need to make in your life armed with this knowledge?   1. Stop being afraid:  Fear is one thing stopping a lot of people from living to be all that they can be. When you need to make a decision and fear creeps in, always remember you have that same spirit that made Philip out run a chariot. The Spirit of God makes you unstoppable. You alone have the power to stop yourself.
Read more

30 things Life taught me

Image
REALIZATIONS 1.   Things are not always the way they seem 2.   Do not judge anyone until you hear their story 3.   You can impact one person at a time. It is not until you start a foundation. 4.   Do not lose what you have because of impatience 5.   Avoid indecision at all cost 6.   You cannot enjoy today if you keep thinking about tomorrow 7.   Peace and happiness are all that really matters in life 8.   I do not need to do anything to impress anybody 9.   Stick to what you are comfortable with 10.               Do not concern yourself with what’s in the mind of others 11.               Do not believe everything you are told 12.               Everything is not about you, stop taking everything personally. 13.               No need reacting to issues instead of responding calmly or trying to defend myself instead of listening 14.               Stop judging yourself negatively 15.               It is easy to forget past decisions and make the same mistake
Read more

What is your drive?

What motivates you in life? What keeps you going in your career, business or ministry? Why do you do the things you do? Your life purpose should be your drive. Purpose is the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. Most people make money their drive but they realize after making the money that they still feel empty and unfulfilled. If you feel unfulfilled and unnecessarily stressed in life, it could be because you are being driven by the wrong things or because you are focusing on too many things. Let us look at some reasons why you should focus on your purpose: 1. Focusing on your purpose makes your life more meaningful: everything in life was made for a purpose. The sun was made to give light in the day. The moon was made to give light in the night. Trees were made to bear fruits. Your life will be meaningless if you do not know the purpose of your existence. That was why Jesus cursed the fig tree.  Mark 11: 12   The next day as they were leavin
Read more

DO YOU THINK MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE OR ABOUT WHAT YOU LACK?

Image
If you have all the fresh water you want to drink and all the food you want to eat, you ought never to complain about anything About ninety per cent of the things in our lives are right and about ten per cent are wrong. If we want to be happy, all we have to do is to concentrate on the ninety percent that are right and ignore the ten per cent that are wrong. If we want to be worried and bitter and have stomach ulcers, all we have to do is to concentrate on the ten percent that are wrong and ignore the ninety per cent that are glorious. Would you sell both your eyes for a billion dollars? What would you take for your two legs? Your hands? Your hearing? Your children? Your family? Add up your assets, and you will find that you won’t sell what you have for all the gold ever amassed by the Rockefellers, the Fords and the Morgans combined. But do we appreciate all this? Ah, no. As Schopenhauer said: “We seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack.” Yes, the tendency to “
Read more

CAN YOU BE ANYTHING DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU THINK?

Image
Our thoughts make us what we are. Emerson said, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” The biggest problem we have to deal with is choosing the right thought. OUR LIFE IS WHAT OUR THOUGHTS MAKE IT. If we think happy thoughts, we will be happy. If we think miserable thoughts, we will be miserable. If we think fear thoughts, we will be fearful. If we think sickly thoughts, we will probably get ill. If we think failure, we will certainly fail. Before you became anything, you first thought about it. Be concerned about your problems, but do not be worried. Concern means realizing what the problems are and calmly taking steps to meet them; Worrying means going around in maddening, futile circles.   Our mental attitude has an almost unbelievable effect even on our physical powers. The famous British Psychiatrist, J.A. Hadfield, gives a striking illustration of that fact in his splendid 54-page booklet: the psychology of power. ”I asked three men,” he writes, “to submit them
Read more

The Mistake of Inconsistency

Image
  Whatever we dream to become great at, we need to give it time, focus on it and keep repeating it. In life, I have seen people make the mistake of being here and there, trying different stuff and never settling with one. You need to give at least one hour everyday for 5 years to anything you wish to be great at. I know a woman who has tried to be great at something, she has been at it for five years now, but she has nothing to show for her endeavors. Her endeavors would have started yielding on the fifth year if she had been consistently focused on one thing. She has a good reason for whatever thing she left behind to pursue another, but sometimes good reasons are not enough. Below are some of her reasons and how she would have succeeded:    It wasn’t her area of study: she didn’t feel good about her job because she felt it was something different from her career path. She envied people in the organization who are in her career path and she decided to quit and look for something in h
Read more