The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”
The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”
—Luke 8:24–25 (NLT)See the ducks? They’re swimming on our cornfield during the 2006 flood. This scene was repeated in 2011. The banks of the Susquehanna River normally are behind that row of large treetops in the distance.
Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the northeastern USA, bringing tree-toppling winds, unprecedented tidal surges, and inland flooding from heavy rainfall. Victims of the so-called hundred-year floods of 2006 and 2011 in New York and Pennsylvania have good cause to fear this new threat to their safety and possessions.
Our family dairy farm lost last year’s silage corn and much of our grain corn to the Susquehanna River, thanks to the one-two punch of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. We had to feed our cows expensive substitutes for many months until this year’s crop came in. Last week my husband, Bill, remarked that, with all the corn silage safely in the bunk silo, we were finally back on track. All we had left to do was combine the grain corn.
But the combine broke down (not a rare occurrence for our geriatric equipment). It took days to find parts needed to resuscitate it. Then our old propane-fired grain dryer quit Saturday. Corn with too much moisture would mold in the granary, so that needs to be fixed pronto. Unfortunately Bill can’t contact dealers to try to find parts until they reopen Monday.
Today, while I went to church and gassed up my car and bought groceries and sat down to type this message, Bill and a friend urgently combined corn, getting as much of it out of the field as they could before the daylight failed. The rest won’t be harvestable if Sandy’s wind flattens the stalks.
I don’t hear the propane dryer roaring, so that must still be out of commission. No doubt Bill figures to heap the combined corn into wagons now, and dry it after the propane equipment is repaired.
These setbacks, and the uncertainties of power outages and flooding in the next few days, would be thoroughly discouraging if we didn’t know that the Lord who commands the wind and waves will take care of us. How do we know this? We know because he has taken care of us through fire (1989), flood (2006 and 2011), and pestilence (cancer, 2004). Every time we have suffered a devastating loss, his providence has sustained us.
I wouldn’t have believed that forty years ago. In fact, I didn’t believe God existed forty years ago. Well, I know it now. I hope you do too. You can draw strength from that faith, even during the most frightening storms of life.
I invite you to listen to the melody of “Only Then” as you read the lyrics. Click on the title.
Relentless storms of life
raged all around the path I trod.
Deafening claps of thunder,
harsh words of hate came crashing on my ears.
I pressed my hands against my head
and made a silent place to be instead.
Only then could I begin to hear
the still, small voice of God.Amid life’s glare I groped
to find the narrow path I trod.
Blinding bolts of lightning,
the bright lights of temptation dazzled me.
I closed the shutters on my heart
and slowly grew accustomed to the dark.
Only then could I begin to see
the faint, pure light of God.Emotions surging over me
submerged the path I trod.
Cold, torrential downpours,
fresh sorrows flooded, close to drowning me.
I struggled to a higher place
and dried the water streaming down my face.
Only then could I begin to feel
the tender tears of God.A hurricane of changes
blew me off the path I trod.
Chaos loomed before me,
the wreckage of my dreams lay strewn behind.
I sought a shelter from the wind
so I might get my bearings once again.
Only then could I begin to find
my way back home to God…to the voice,
the light,
the love
of God.— Linda Bonney Olin
(from Songs for the Lord)
love this – “Emmanuel” – God With Us — during the storms — the raging winds — the devastation — the ash heaps of life — God remains With Us.
He sure does, Sue. Sometimes he stills the wind and waves. Sometimes he rides the waves with us, holding us close to shelter us from the wind. And sometimes he nudges the seminary to cancel classes so we don’t have to drive for hours through the wind and waves. 🙂
The recording of your song won’t stop on my computer. I’d posted it in today’s blog, but reverted it to a draft until I can figure out how to stop the music.. Can you help me?
Hi, Jean. Hmmm… Let’s see if we can diagnose the problem sight unseen…
When I click on the audio link in my post, Windows Media Player opens a little window and starts playing the MP3. That window has the usual square box for Stop, parallel vertical lines for Pause, and triangle for Play. Everyone’s computer has a different default player set up to play Internet audio, but they all should have similar buttons.
1) Do you mean that your audio player doesn’t have buttons? Or does it play behind the scenes without showing you the player window?
2) What audio player opens when you click on other audio files on the Internet? Does it normally work okay for you? Is that what opens when you click Only Then?
3) Does the Only Then link behave properly when you click on it inside my post?
4) I gather that you copied the Only Then link into a post on your own blog. Describe what method you used to do that.
Let me know and we’ll go from there.
Sandy no longer qualifies as a “hurricane” according to the Weather Channel gurus. I guess I’ll call her Sandy the Windbag. She blew past us last night. Might turn back in our direction, but probably she’ll be gasping for breath by then.
Hubby says most of our cornstalks are still standing sufficiently upright for the combine head to pick off the ears after the ground dries. YAY!
My parents in Maine lost their electric overnight, but that has already been restored.
As the prophet Samuel said, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
(1 Samuel 7:7-12)