There is something to be said about finding calm in the midst of storms that any of us may go through and today of all days is no exception. All of us go through various trials throughout our lives whether we ask for them or not – this is all part of life. With these trials or circumstances that we each go through – no matter what they are, I have a few questions to ask you; How do you view these trials; Do you see these as a time of testing; do you see them as an opportunity for growth; do you even see them as an opportunity not only for growth but of learning from whatever difficult circumstance you may find yourselves in;
These questions I have also asked myself as even I am not exempt from such questions – sometimes the lessons that come from the difficulties we face can be jolly hard work but also painful. Some more questions which are again for all of us are how do we react if someone has caused us hurt or turned their back on us; do we react in such a way that we retaliate and react back in ways that are just as hurtful or worse; do we withdraw and shy away from having anything more to do with that person(s); how do we actually deal with each situation or circumstance in our lives that can have a detriment effect on our spiritual, emotional and physical well-being – serious questions which I have posed for all of us to think about and yes – these questions are indeed for me also!
The main question we need to ask ourselves in any given situation we are in especially as Believers in Christ is, what did Jesus do? Think about this for a moment if you will. Did Jesus retaliate in a similar manner, or did He respond in love? Should we react in the manner that Jesus did and if so, why?
Well, one simple answer is that His Holy Spirit who dwells in us should make us stop and think about the detriment of our actions when we are caught up in hurtful situations whereby our actions should be to always respond in loving-kindness. This is what His Word tells us is the right way for us as His Disciples to respond. Is this always easy to have the same like-minded attitude in such a manner? the answer is no it is not always easy, but this is where rather than acting out of anger, haste or lashing out verbally or otherwise – we really need to take a step back and be still before The Lord. To cry out to Him and to get into His Word. To be still and to listen to His voice. In all circumstances we are called to Praise Him – note in all circumstances.
For me personally, I am learning to rely more and more on The Holy Spirit and there are times quite often when situations come up in my own life where I have seriously had to be still and do the above. Often now, I am learning also to not act hastily whereby I normally go to sleep and the following morning nine times out of ten, the anger or low mood or whatever emotional turmoil has been going on has calmed – I wake up with my views being more rational and my spirit is so much calmer whereby I then respond out of love and kindness. Again, there are times when this does not happen but not too often thankfully. There is the expression that comes to mind here which is the saying “sleeping on it” before making hasty decisions which is very true, and this is for everyone whether you are a Disciple of Christ or not! I do need to say though that no matter what we are faced with – we do need to take every situation and circumstance before Jesus in prayer.
So, there is a moral to the story here which is this; no matter what difficulties we are all faced with – we are to take everything to The Father who is the One who showed us love from the very beginning of creation. He is the ultimate One who calms the stormy seas that we are going through which makes me think of Peter who was in the boat and became afraid because of the actual physical storm.
Matthew 14:28 – 31
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw e]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Hence Peter cried out to Jesus who said “O you of little faith” Jesus brought peace and tranquillity into that very situation. We can’t but He can and does bring us through whatever we are facing – it is about learning to put our absolute trust in Him and when we do, our outlook should be totally different by His Holy Spirit living within us and changing our persona from the negative to the positive. He can; He does, and He will.
A pretty deep lesson here to be fair but God is the God of the impossible and when we say we can’t – He says I can & I will which He does….
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