Sunday Devotional

Hurricane Rita.

Those two words stir powerful emotions. The storm of 2005 battered our state, our house, even our spirits as we watched and worried what the day would bring. For only the second time in my life, I was forced to flee with my husband, my children, anything we could fit in the car. Oh, and Max, of course!

We sheltered in a small town in north Texas, five hours away from where we live. Already, evacuees from Hurricane Katrina occupied closer hotels. Huddled in a tiny, one room cottage, we listened to news reports that warned of coming disaster. Our eyes were glued to the T.V. screen as radar images showed the storm’s path directly over our area. Outside, rain battered the windows from this massive hurricane. And Max?

Max slept peacefully on one corner of the bed.

His heart was not troubled by the reports. His eyes did not watch with fear as the storm clouds rolled in. He simply trusted that all would be well. And he slept. . .while all around us, the storm raged.

Surely, that is the lesson God wanted His disciples to learn when He sent them out in a boat with the rain clouds brewing. He is present. He is able. And He wants us to learn to depend on Him, even in our most trying times.

Teach me, oh Lord, how to find rest…even in the midst of the storm.

Matthew 14:22-33 (New International Version)

22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat was already a considerable distance[a] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. 27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29"Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."