The Eye of the Storm

New Zealand has been experiencing a major storm this week. Gale force winds of up to 120kms per hour were predicted. Not sure how severe that is but 120kms per hour on our roads is well above the speed limit! It was windy enough to leave houses without power and to fell trees.  A glance outside of my house shows that the wind has been busy redistributing our bark garden.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11189546

All day you could hear the wind and the trees thrashing. That is until early afternoon when it went still and quiet. The wind dropped, the trees stopped their wild dancing. It just went quiet…peaceful…restful. We were in the eye of the storm, at the centre. All too soon we were back to the thrashing  and crashing of the wind as the storm passed over.

As I sat in my house enjoying the respite from the storm it struck me that this must have been what Jesus was teaching the disciples about when they were in the middle of a storm themselves. The Disciples were very afraid and called on Jesus. Personally I can’t think of a worse place to be in a storm and I think I’d be hanging over the edge of the boat trying to hold on for dear life whilst being violently sick! And where was Jesus? He was in the same boat and in the same storm but asleep. He was at rest. Same circumstances but a very different stance!

It is possible to be in raging storms in life – whether it be financial, economic, health, relationship breakdowns – and to be at peace. You can declare peace to the storm. And you can find rest in the storm.