“Jesus spake unto them . . . , Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid”
Matthew 14:27 (KJV)
The disciples had struggled for hours but could not beat the storm that threatened to take their boat and even their very lives.
Do you feel the same way in your life today? Are the pressures that surround you about to swallow you and take your very life?
People seem to struggle with so many things of the world today. We struggle with family, with work, with everyday stresses of ordinary life. Such struggles cause us to lose our joy and peace.
Oh! Dear friend, in the middle of the storm, you can look across the crashing waves and find Christ walking straight over them to deliver you. Note, he said “take courage be of good cheer” He spoke these words to take away the fears that trouble us. Hear the words of the songwriter:
“When the storms of life are raging, Stand by me.
When the storms of life are raging, Stand by me.
When the world is tossing me like a ship up on the sea,
Thou who rulest wind and water, Stand by me.”
Many things trouble us (violence, murder, drugs, finances, family, the loss of a loved one, etc,) in our day. As we walk the troubled sea of life, we sometimes suffer hardships. Take courage, this same Jesus, who brought calm and peace by His presence and word, comes to us in the restless, turbulence of our life and says, “Be of good cheer, take courage, it is I, be not afraid.”
Take Him into your boat and you will receive peace and calm in your storm. Your peace will hold firm if it is centered in Him. Peace is not peace unless it remains in the midst of the storm. What peace we can have when we put all our hope and trust in Him. He is the peace speaker, the one who calms the troubled storms of our lives. The night may be dark and the waves real but Christ is greater than the storm. I am so glad to know that He can calm the troubled waters of my soul.
Dear Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. Thank you for being the peace speaker in the very storms that trouble me today. They may seem overwhelming but as you came to rescue the disciples and spoke calm to their lives, I know you will speak peace and calmness in my life today. Thank you, in Jesus’ name. AMEN
Let us praise God for his peace and trust him to calm our storms,
Bobbie Smith