NOT IF, BUT WHEN (Part 1)

Scripture:  Isaiah 43:2 - "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you...and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.”


"Batter up."  "All hands on deck!"  "Line down. Set. Hut. Hut. Hut.!"  "Battle stations!" "On your mark, get set, ready go!" "Kumite!"
 "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"  "Charge!"
"Okay, now take a great, big breath and push!"  "Fix bayonets!"  "Clear!" "Teruah!"

All of these exhortations and many more in history and in fiction bring to our thinking how it is very normal for life to house moments by which the abnormal can abruptly show up, and demand of us unique action reserved for the urgent.
My favorite, "Danger. Will Robinson", the robot to the boy, Will, courtesy of 'Lost In Space'.

Sometimes the communication is verbal, sometimes it is an inflection of the voice, and sometimes the signal is a certain look that speaks to the need for alertness. Sometimes it's a simple gesture, and these days it might be an alerting electronic signal.

Certainly, it might be a simple sneeze in the midst of all else being quiet.

I'm writing and looking out my window, to notice within the bright of morning two cardinals perched nearby, outside, simply being themselves, at peace. The breeze is minor, and all seems well. It is possible within the next few minutes a prowling cat could show up, or the neighborhood fox, or maybe a rascally neighbors'  child, in the guise of playfulness, expressing their nature- bringing the raucous to what was idyllic. It is normal for life to bring its black ice,  as we pleasantly stroll, not knowing the sudden glide to come.
Unbridled water in scripture [and in modern life] can be quite the hazard, but God, who created our world to be mostly water [and we all to be imperfect swimmers], stands as a promise-keeper. He is the Savior to bring our salvation uniquely to us either within, through, around, or upon the swirl of life, to the effecting of our trust, courage, peace, strength, patience, humility, wisdom, and faithfulness. Sometimes it takes the deeper waters and the unrelenting stir to test the joy we profess in Him through a hymn. And how would we gauge love without the occasional storm?
He is our 'bridge' over troubled waters, while at the same time He permits the same troubled waters: He shall deliver us either in history or with heaven.
Let it be 'well with my soul'.

Remember that moment when the disciples were in a boat with Jesus, when the waters and the winds became excessive, tossing the boat and its crew about? Jesus was so impressed with their courage that He had this to say:
"And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea 'Peace. Be still.' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them 'Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?'  And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, ' What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'" Mark 4:39-41

Indeed, even now, and maybe especially now: 'Peace be still.'.

Prayer:  Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on  Earth as it is in Heaven.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD.
LORD, You know our needs more completely than we ever could.
Your bread, your living bread will always meet and reach us just in the way it ought to, even as we clamor for other, or protest what we have, or sulk for more.
May our soul's companion be such as peace, and with sacred remembrance, we shall taste and see that the LORD is good, and sufficient for every season, until we yonder go.
Thank You Jesus. Amen.

(by Dr. McNeal Brockington)