DEVOTION: Two Storms ~ by Shirley Corder

Mark 4:37-39. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping…. Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

Mark 6:47-51 When He (Jesus) saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them….. he went out to them, walking on the lake. …When they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. …Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.

The second storm came out of nowhere.

Two weeks previously I spent a week in the hospital where I underwent a TKR (Total Knee Replacement). The pain was horrendous. My lower leg felt as if it had been replaced with a heavy wooden log. I faced a stormy period I hope never to repeat. But I had anticipated it. I had prepared as best as I could. And I coped.

Then the second storm hit. I didn't see this one coming. Two weeks after my knee replacement, a specialist surgeon performed emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder.

This time I wasn't prepared. My wide-spread family was thrown into a flurry of phone calls and text messages. My friends heard the news and passed it on for urgent prayer. My Face book timeline filled with prayers and notes of encouragement from friends across the world.

I guess it was like that for the disciples. They faced a number of storms during their time with Jesus, but the two quoted above sum up my own experience. For the first one, they were prepared. Jesus was with them. He was asleep and they had to wake Him, but at least they knew He was there in the boat with them. In the second storm, He was far away on the land while they battled alone in the middle of the sea.

And yet . . . Jesus knew exactly where they were, and when they needed Him, He came to them.

It is bad enough having to face a storm in our lives, be it surgery, a relationship in jeopardy, or a financial crisis. It is so much easier for us if we see them coming. We can at least prepare ourselves to a degree. But what of the unexpected crises that strike when you least expect them? They can hit so fast you don’t see them coming. There is no time to get prepared, to get right with God.

We need to be sure we are in a relationship with Him while life is going smoothly. Then when the storms strike, as they surely will do, we can be certain He will be there for us. How wonderful to know, no matter what we face, the Lord sees it coming. No matter what happens,  He knows what is happening, and He will be there for us.

Do you anticipate a storm in your near future? Or have you been through a storm you didn't think you'd survive? Where you wondered where Jesus was? Let us know in a comment below so we can pray with you.

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband, Rob. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer contains 90 meditations based on her time in the cancer valley.

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Please visit Shirley through ShirleyCorder.com, where she encourages writers, or at  RiseAndSoar.com, where she encourages those in the cancer valley. You can also meet with her on Twitter or FaceBook.