Storms

Scripture

He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.

~Mark 6:48, NLT

Quote

When God wants to make a man, He puts him in a storm.

~Charles Cowman

Storms can arise suddenly especially on the tiny Sea of Galilee. Other storms come gradually like the one Elijah prayed down. The first cloud was in the distance and appeared no bigger than a man’s hand but trouble that seems insignificant can spread until the skies are black and we feel overwhelmed by dark clouds. Yet it is the storm that God uses to make us strong and enduring. When God wants to grow a giant oak, He plants it on a ridge or a river bank where it will catch the wind and the rain. The storm makes the oak. Think of the world great oaks–Homer and Milton were blind, Beethoven was deaf, Helen Keller was blind and deaf, George Washington was a miserable failure at farming. Moses had a criminal record. David was a fugitive for over a decade and Jeremiah battled depression. Hosea married a prostitute and Amos had no education. Joseph was an ex-con and Nehemiah had a violent temper. Every man who became preeminent in his ability was made so by the things he suffered. So if you have this idea that you are going to achieve great things for Christ without suffering, forget it!

Two stories and I will close: the first is Jesus feeding the multitudes. The disciple had this question, “Where on earth can we get enough food to feed this horde?” Jesus response was always the same: YOU FEED THEM! I’m sure they were thinking—“With what?” Then Jesus showed them how to feed a multitude. We don’t do it with a lunch, we do it with a life {His life in us}. We follow the same formula that He taught us: we ask Him to do to us what He did to the fish and hush puppies–TAKE US, BREAK US AND MAKE US.

The second story is Jesus coming to the Disciples walking on the sea. Remember He is walking on the very circumstances that had them downcast and afraid. The storm is great but He is greater. He is always in the storm and above the storm. He not only allows us to encounter the storm; He intentionally sends us into the storm to teach us to put our absolute trust in HIM; not man, not in the world and not in circumstances.

It’s been a good week for me, no COLS’s. I listened to a speech yesterday by Larry P. Arnn, President of Hillsdale College. I will try to put a link below. It is not encouraging. Barring an intervention, we have probably seen our last true election in 2016. The last election was rigged and now they control everything: all federal agencies {23 million federal agency employees/Bureaucrats/ five times the population of Alabama and all are parasitic. This is what Trump went to DC to do, get rid of the parasites}, congress {a joke}, the courts, the media, higher education and all public school cirriculum, etc. They have already rewritten history to their liking and that too will be implemented ASAP. He does think Lincoln was a great president but he is a Yankee. He also said the confederacy was evil and I would like to ask him one question: what about Sherman? Anyway, chew on the meat and spit out the bones. He did say that Clarence Thomas is a brilliant and good man. If Texas succeeds, I want Alabama to go with them because these folks are leading America straight to hell. If you are a Churchill fan as am I, this guy is very knowledgable on Churchill. There is one speech on YouTube about Churchill himself. He will mention Churchill in this interview.

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