Sleeping Thru A Storm

the waves are crashing down on me
but i know this cannot be the end

i will hold on to the hope that i have
you gave me a promise...

"you gave me a promise"
firelight

Imagine yourself travelling on a bus, boat, train or plane in the middle of a nasty storm. How would you feel? Will you manage to keep calm? Sleep peacefully thru the storm? I bet not. At least not for me.

Well there was a story when Jesus took his disciple to a trip to one of the cities of the Decapolis, to the city Gadara. And while on their way in the Sea of Galilee, there came a great storm that rocked their boat, literally. The disciples were terrified…. Trembling… Freaking out… (Now that sounds a lot like me eh). So they went to Jesus to see what he had to say (or do). Instead they found him asleep. Nice. Their boat was on the brink of sinking, being tossed by big angry waves and their Master was on the stern…Asleep through the storm!

And we know the rest of the story. And we know that Jesus commanded the storm to be still. And they eventually made it to the other side where the Son of Man did his first miracle in the region of Capernaum. By casting out legions of demons from a man who had been possessed by these demons for a long, long time.

When we are set to carry out God’s will in our life, we are most likely to face a fierce storm. Something to stop us from carrying out the Father’s will. Something to discourage us. Paralyze us. Something to infuse fear and doubt. Something to make us backfire our will to obey the Master and advance His Kingdom.

Storms come in various strength and intensity. Some storms can raise havoc and can be totally devastating. Leaving us homeless, hopeless…

The good news is, if we know for certain that it is God who planted that vision, that dream in our hearts… if we know that it is his will that we are about to carry out… Then we know that no matter what storm may come to hinder us, to try us, to intimidate us, to torture us…We can sleep through the storm knowing that God is in control of every situation in the life of the chosen.
We can be still and know that He is God…

Beautiful Strangers

won’t you tell me now
when did i see you in need of water?
oh, and tell me now
when did i see you hungry on the street?

God, i hear you calling out to me
in the voices of the least of these
calling me to reach beyond my world
to the beautiful stranger...

"beautiful stranger"
rebecca st. james

Sometimes we are so caught up in our own world that we tend to forget that there is a world outside our own.

Sometimes we think that the world our own private world is perfect on its own that we dont seem to care about the imperfect world around us.

About people who think differently from our way of thinking. Who live differently from the way we live our lives. Whose manners might not seem to be as refined as ours. Or who might not seem to be as logical and rational as we are. Whose culture seem to be a bit off track, laid back or even outdated. Who worship a diety who is in no way comparable to the God we worship...

And this is my point, really. Most culture are shaped by the kind of faith they have. culture and religion are most of the time so intertwined that we cannot sometimes tell one from the other. A certain people can be so laid back but that's because they have been taught to walk the middle path. To not go to both extremes of apathy and arrogance. Then there are those who appear to be so culturally militant and that's because they have been raised to be radical for their faith to the point of going to extremes.

And then there's us. A people who know who they believe and follow. We have been taught to be wise like a serpent and meek like a dove. We have been taught to be passionate about our faith then also share it in humility and meekness. To walk the extra mile if asked. To turn the other cheek if needed to. To feed the hungry. And clothe the naked. And comfort those who mourn. To show kindness and compassion and sacrificial love to those who think such virtues don’t exist. To be compelled by the love of the Almighty. Cause only by then can they know the difference. Between the lotus and the cross. Or the crescent and the cross.

There's us. wonderfully and fearfully made. Chosen. And there's them. Lost. Careless. But still beautiful in God's eyes.

There's us. Set apart… Yet being sent to them... Yes, to them. Beautiful strangers.

Are we gonna heed the call?