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"Time to Wake the Lord"
There was a certain sound when I was a child, that could send shivers down my spine. I’ll try it. It went something like this: Poing, poing, poing. Does anyone know what noise I’m talking about? Poing, poing, poing. That was the weather alert bulletin sounder on channel 11 when I was growing up. And if I was within earshot, whenever I would hear the poing, poing, poing, I became frantic. “Tornado. We’ll die. We’ll die for sure.” I think of my storm-related terror whenever I read this passage. I was born on the plains. I don’t know much about the storms that hit at sea. But I grew up fearing tornadoes…and so I can’t help it that my mind goes there. The disciples didn’t know tornadoes. But they knew storms at sea. And this one Mark writes about is a doozie. The disciples get into a boat, taking the Lord with them, just as he was. That’s what Mark says. Just as he was. I’m not sure what that means. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was being swamped. And the Disciples became afraid. Poing, poing, poing.
No, it wasn’t like
that. That sound meant there was danger of a storm. That sound meant to take
cover because there was going to be a storm.
Oh- they are beyond
worry. They are beyond getting ready for the storm. When the storm clouds were
first gathering overhead, it was time to worry. When the wind began to pick up,
it was time to tie things down and prepare to weather the storm. When the rain
began to fall, it was time to put on protective gear. When the boat began to
rise and fall on the waves, it was time to secure oneself and make sure the
lines were secure and the rudder steady. When the boat began to take on water,
it was time to bail. Bail. It’s urgent. Something terrible could happen. When it was no longer a possibility that something terrible could happen, when it was no longer a warning that something would happen, when it becomes the terrible reality that it is happening! The disciples come to the realization that they are not about to perish. They cry out, “we are perishing.” It past time to look at the clouds. It’s past time for a warning. It’s past time to prepare for the wind. It’s past time to put on protective gear. It’s past time to bail the water! Children…it’s time. It’s past time. Don’t you see…it’s time to wake the Lord! The Lord of the wind. The Lord of the sea. The Lord whose very words bring peace and calm. The Lord is in the boat with them! Thank God they had taken him along, just as he was. It’s time to wake the Lord. They do, and the Lord who is bigger than the storm, the Lord who is more powerful than the wind, the Lord who has dominion over the waves, calls out, “Be Still.” And the storm is stilled. Ever notice how storms gather on the horizon, out before us. And we begin to worry. We wring our hands. We sound the alarms. As the storm nears, we prepare. We try to fortify ourselves and our surroundings. As it comes upon us, we bravely ride the waves, and steel our nerves for the bumpy ride. When our craft begins to fail, we do all we can to save it, bailing the water, lightening the load. But when we have done all we can, when our strength is gone, and the calamity is no longer in front of us but is pushing us down into the sea…there comes the moment when there is nothing to do but surrender. Not to the elements, but to the One who is greater than the storm. To the One who has hardly noticed the wind and the waves for they are nothing to Him. We can give thanks that the Lord of the Universe is in our boat. And we know that when we need to, we can wake the Lord, when its time. James DeLoach tells about a painting he once viewed of an old burned-out mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney...the charred debris of what had been that family’s sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes. Beside the old man was a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was crying. Beneath the framed painting was its title: words the artist felt the old man was speaking to the crying boy. They were simple words, yet they presented a profound theology and philosophy of life. Those words were, “Hush child, God ain’t dead!” Personally, we sometimes find ourselves in choppy seas, battered by the waves. With the Lord in our boat…when we’ve done all we can, we will be able to put it in the Lord’s hand. When Jesus stills the sea, he turns back to the disciples, their eyes wide, their breathing heavy. “Why were you so afraid?” he asks them. “Still, have you no faith?” he says to them. He’s saying, “Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten who is in your boat with you? You have taken me along with you…now, don’t be afraid.” Hear it? Have you forgotten? Who it is that you have taken in the boat with you? Into your battles with disease? Into your lives filled with conflict? Into your grief and your sorrow? As you set sail toward darkened skies? As you wrestle with problems and decisions, as addictions and enemies of every kind attack? Have you forgotten who is with you in the storm? When you are perishing, have you forgotten in whom you hope? A terminally ill man arrived at the cancer center for his usual treatment. This time, a new doctor was on duty, and said to him casually and cruelly, “You understand, don’t you, that even with these treatments, you won’t live out the year?” As the young man left, he stopped by the front desk and couldn’t control himself any longer. Tears rolling down his cheeks, he blurted to the receptionist, “That so-called Doctor took away my only hope!” The receptionist touched the man gently on the arm. “Perhaps, it‘s time to find a new one, then.” she said. About this very incident, Lew Smedes wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us finally to the Christian’s hope, for in God’s word, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise!” “Have you still no faith?” He asked His disciples. Even in the fiercest storm, where is your hope? Allow the Lord take control of the wind and the waves. Our hope is in powerful hands. Do you know it? Our hope is in powerful hands. Do you perceive it? Our hope is in powerful hands.
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