01/25/2026
Since we're unable to hold services today due to the winter storm, thought we'd provide a devotional.
"Control"
I'm sitting here this morning at my keyboard listening to the groaning, cracking, and splintering of trees outside in our yard. The weight of the accumulated ice has become too great and the inevitable is occurring. Something has to give. I've been through ice storms before. Back in the early 2000's, we lost power for over a week, despite the houses around us being restored in a matter of days. Finally, in desperation, I flagged down a lineman in his truck and explained our plight. Turns out our house and one other were on a separate transformer and line. He restored power to our home in a matter of minutes and our lives finally crawled back to normalcy.
That even is why I dread storms of this nature so much. And like the tornado that devastated our church last May, we can't do a thing to keep it from happening. With all of our technology, and wealth, power, and influence, when bad times come, when the storms come, we're reminded just how little control we have.
The apostles were reminded about this truth during a little boat ride when the storm came up. Jesus was taking a nap. The weather got so bad they were certain the boat would be swamped and sunk. Jesus? Slept through the whole thing. Finally, in desperation the apostles woke him up, scolding him for his lack of concern. His reply?
"Have you no faith?" And he bid the storm to cease and the waters calmed immediately, the skies parted. Had Jesus not been awakened, would the boat have sunk? Would their lives have been taken beneath the crashing waves? I don't think so. I think a greater lesson could have been learned in they had trusted the Lord through the storm rather than be delivered from it.
The same goes for us. I like to say, "Blessed are they who trust God in the midst of the storm."
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