October 24, 2016 – Words of Wisdom
Dolly Parton

“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” Dolly Parton

“On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mark 4:35-41

The disciples had been on the sea for some time, fighting against the wind to the point that they believed the ship may sink at any moment. Jesus was asleep in the stern. That is an image that just seems to be out of place. A group of painters were once asked to paint a scene that depicted peace. Several of them painted the usual scenes we would associate with peace: quiet meadows, sleeping animals or babies, a pond without any ripples. But one painter approached the task differently. He painted a scene that showed the winds howling, trees bent over and darkness enveloping the landscape. And in one small corner, there was a bird sitting in the protection of the nest, feeding her babies and protecting them from the wind. And the nest has this soft glow as if they are protected by some divine source. That scene is the same as the scene of Jesus asleep on a boat as it is about to be swamped in a storm – and the implication is clear: Jesus is our source of peace when the storms of life rage around us.

The winds of trials, tribulations and challenges will continually blow in and through our lives – it is the saga of being human. Very rarely will we be able to encounter peace for an extended period of time – unless we have the opportunity to find a place that is tucked away from the everyday hustle and bustle of life — like the peace I encountered on my fishing trip to Canada. But generally that kind of peace is short lived – fleeting for most of us in this world. We continue to face those storms knowing that Jesus is the peace that surpasses all understanding, and as long as we ride the winds of any storm with Jesus, there will always be peace on the horizon.

Pastor Dave