Storms in life can hit you like a sudden leak in your boat! It could happen in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight! In this world there will be a lot of care! Sometimes the cares of the world can be camo or hidden! In the picture above, it appears we are driving around on the lake without a care in the world! However, we are being towed by another boat because we are sinking! We suddenly started taking in a lot of water and knew it was a matter of time before it would be dark! We waved and tried to get anyones attention, but nothing! It seemed as though we were being watched from a distance! Things in life may not be as it seems from a distance! Trouble can happen, No one is exempt!
What does it look like during the night while you are consumed in circumstance, to cast your cares to the one who cares the most? 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” There is freedom in surrendering your nets in the deep blue sea! Surrendering your net is like giving God every fear or anxiety that might weigh you down. When you chose to hand over all your cares, you are trusting his ways over your own. Luke 9:24, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
In troubled water, life can seem hopeless because you might feel sick and overwhelmed while the world seems to be spinning all around you. As the salty water crashes all around you stinging your eyes! The salt water mixed with tears make it hard to see clearly! 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NIV “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Sometimes our circumstances can blind because like a flood, our emotions come in all at once. The thoughts of what could happen as the boat violently rocks back and forth. Would it sink? Who Can you trust in a camo world? It seems like everyone is just watching from a distance, hoping it all goes well. The different view shifts as your thoughts consume you stirring up feelings and wonder if’s. Like a sudden breeze, gently touching your check you think silently, who’s voice do I listen to? God or the World around me? I focus on God’s love and how I need to put into practice everything I have learned! That means the flood of thoughts must be filtered through God’s word. Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV) “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” I chose to cast my cares to Jesus who hears me as I fill myself up with praise worthy thoughts for His glory. He calms my heart filling me with peace that can’t be taken. His love is everlasting! Only God can calm the loud storm so His truth will sing like the sound of a perfect sailing day on the ocean!
In the trouble waters, where do I place my confidence? Is it in the boat that keeps me afloat or the one who is in it with me? If the wind and the waves suddenly cause me to lose my grip and it tips me over! He will not let me sink! If I’m blinded by the wind, I will swim as he keeps me safe in his mighty hands. Is all hope Gone if the boat sinks and I go overboard? No! Hope lives in me and He will not let any of his children be snatched out of his hands. Hope will never leave me or forsake me! The boat is not my hope! What I see and feel is not my hope! I trust in you Only God, my Father!! Who love is everlasting. Romans 8:24-25 NIV “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” God will not let his children be snatched from his hands (John 10:28-30)! God wants no one to perish because he loves everyone (2 Peter 3:9). My life completely is His!
Suddenly, I feel warm! There is freedom in surrender! The one who speaks to the wind and calms the waves, (Mark 4:39-41)! Jesus your right there with me and my family. My hope and confidence is in You! Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” No matter if I’m in the boat or in the water, I’m confident Jesus will be right there with me! God will make a way when there seems no way! It is His testimony in us that leads other to know His perfect love for everyone!
“I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.”
Psalms 22:22 NIV
https://www.bible.com/111/psa.22.22.niv
Isaiah 43:2,
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” No matter if I’m in the boat or in the water, I’m confident Jesus will be in the water with me!
Philippians 3:13-14,
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been
justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Philippians 3:13-14, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18,
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
1 Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith,because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace,
who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong,firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever.
Amen.
This is a great lesson in learning to surrender our control and hand over our cares to Him who loves us unconditionally. In Matthew 11:28 it says come to me, cast your burdens on me and take my yoke for it is easy. This is such a great message about all believing in the things that are unseen and those are the things that we need to focus on.
Thank you.
I love that phrase, “There is freedom in surrender.” We try to control every aspect of our lives, and that causes stress. The more we give the burden on control over to God, the more freedom and happiness we will experience.