Yesterday was a day of teaching for me, but in order to reach my students, I needed to drive to the university campus.  As I drove northwest, enjoying the early morning air rushing through my rolled-down car windows, I began to sense a change in the weather.  While the miles rolled by, the wind became stronger and the rain drops began to hit against the windshield.

During the final miles of the drive, the winding highway 55 leads across farmland and across Green River.  Maybe it was the ‘crossing over’ that caused the wildly extraordinary sky, but I know it was really God’s power.

• Outside my left, driver side window was a blue sky filled with white clouds, giving the sense how the day would be calm.
• Outside my right, passenger side window was the sunrise, brilliantly peaking up over the horizon, reminding me how God controlled the day.
• Outside my front windshield and above my vehicle was a brewing storm, one filled with thunderclaps, lighting, and pounding rain, helping me recall God’s sovereignty & authority.

In today’s world, anxiety seems to exist within many people.  Some like to contribute the anxiety to the long-lasting effects of COVID, to the detrimental attacks left on our society from the pandemic.  Maybe this is true.  We could be in the throes of an anxiety-ridden world because we remain shell-shocked and do not know how to walk on toward our own stability.  However, could it be that we were not meant to ‘walk on’ to our own stability?  Were we ever meant to traverse this life alone? 

GOD knew we needed a Savior!

GOD knew this Truth from the beginning of time, and in knowing—HE SENT JESUS AS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD!

Oftentimes, we are heard saying these words:  “God is not surprised by this.”

Yet, how many times have we spoken this statement, only to turn right around and wring our hands, encountering inner-fear at what the current situation could do to us?  How many times have we spoken this truth-bound sentence—“God is not surprised by this”—only to walk on knocking knees, afraid?  How often have we wondered, ‘How will God ever fix this life-mess, one that plagues our mind and interrupts our sleep?’

Remind us, LORD!

YOU are not perplexed by the struggles we are facing!

YOU are never surprised—BY ANYTHING!

Help us, FATHER, to be comforted by YOUR surpassing power!

As God’s children, we know this promise of God.  We know it!  So, why do we forget?  How can we believe something so deeply and still allow the terrifying anxiety to fill us?  In the Bible, when the disciples of Jesus became distressed in the middle of the storm, Jesus rebuked their lack of faith, and then—JESUS REBUKED THE STORM!

As long as we have faith in Jesus, faith in the One who controls even the winds and the sea, faith in the Lord Jesus, who controls ALL life-storms—WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR!

Overwhelming circumstances may cause anxiety but we have faith in the One who knows our situation.  Let us turn over our situation to Him, to the One who already knows, to the One who controls everything!

“Why are you afraid, you men [and women] of little faith?”

May we share time with the Savior, praying with thanksgiving. The PEACE of GOD will surpass all of our understanding. In a world filled with chaos and anxiety, may we be found to be men and women of faith.  Let us allow the PEACE of GOD to guard our hearts and our minds as we keep our eyes fixed on CHRIST JESUS!  Although we cannot control the storms of life that come, we can control the position of our bodies.  We can spend more time on our knees in prayer, listening to God, and less time wringing our hands, fretting over the stressful situation we are facing.  Truly, we can raise our hands in praise to the Only One who controls the winds and the sea!