God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging (Psalm 46:1-2 NIV).
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You can have peace in the midst of storm. An art contest was once held in which the artists were asked to illustrate peace. Most of the contestants handed in paintings of quiet, calm scenes of the countryside–absolute tranquility. Well, that’s a form of peace. But the hardest kind of peace to have was illustrated in the picture that won the award. It depicted the roaring, raging, foaming rapids of a storm-swollen waterfall, and on a little tree branch overhanging the torrent was a nest, where a tiny bird sat peacefully singing in spite of the raging river.
Trusting is a picture of complete rest, peace and quiet of mind, heart and spirit.
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When Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army with her husband William, was dying, she quietly said, ?The waters are rising, but I am not sinking.? But then she had been saying that all through her life. Other floods besides the waters of death had gathered about her soul, but she had never sunk! The good Lord made her buoyant, and she rode upon the storm!
This, then, is the promise of the Lord–not that the waters of trouble shall never gather about the believer, but that he shall never be overwhelmed.
–J.H.Jowett
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When we put our cares in God’s hands, He puts His peace in our hearts.
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What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. –Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Some years back, when sea travel was much more common than air travel, a trans-Atlantic liner was caught in a storm. For two days the wind raged. Passengers were frightened. At last an anxious passenger climbed to where he could see the pilot. Returning to his fellow-passengers, he spread glad tidings of peace. ?We are all right!? he said. ?The ship will make port. I have seen the pilot, and he is smiling.? With the great Pilot directing our life, we can smile on through every storm and, smiling, be at peace.
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I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restless ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose.
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes.
But while the battle raged and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice, and perfect peace I knew.
– Annie Johnson Flint
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?Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.? ? John 14:27
Thanks, Joe! Encouraging.