Thank you Mary Southerland for today’s message….
LORD, even when I have trouble all around me, You will keep me alive. When my enemies are angry, You will reach down and save me by Your power ~ Psalm 138:7, NCV
My father-in-law was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean when he was caught in a school of jellyfish. Dad was stung twenty-three times. In severe pain and a state of sheer panic, he began to swim furiously, trying to escape the poisonous sea creatures.
The only problem was that he was not sure which way was up.
Dad was soon running out of air. He prayed … asking God for help.
And then a thought occurred to him. His only hope was to stop, relax, and look for the light. As he forced himself to relax, he began to float. And then he saw it … the light. With his last bit of energy, he began to swim toward the light and made it to the surface just before he passed out and was rescued.
We often react to a crisis in the same way.
When the excruciating pain of life leaves us breathless, we panic.
We are not sure which way to go.
We are soon paralyzed and in desperate need of rescuing.
And as a last resort, we cry out to God.
When will we learn that crying out to God should be our first response instead of our last resort?
The psalmist promises that God will keep us by His power. The word “power” means “strength and authority.” When we fully surrender our lives to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. He is our power link to God. And one of His most important jobs is to comfort us when we are in pain and sustain us in the storms of life.
I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative – and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit – He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you
(John 14:25-26, NLT).
Many times, when the storm waves of life hit, we forget every promise we know. That is when the Holy Spirit reminds us that …
· God is faithful.
· God will not forsake us.
· God will never leave us.
· God is always with us.
· God will empower us to withstand the storm.
Just as storms in life are a certainty, so is the provision of God.
Life can be messy and bad things will happen, but every crisis and every storm is also an opportunity to trust God. He calls us to a heavenly perspective when facing challenging times. He calls us to see the storms of life as He sees them – opportunities for His power and purpose to be illustrated in human terms.
In the midst of the darkness, He will point us toward the light. When a huge wave of daily life knocks us to our knees, it is easy to lose our sense of direction. When a storm overwhelms us, we need to stop, look for the light, and swim toward it.
Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!
Hope Wissel 