I find myself suddenly content…

I am strangely at peace…

I find I am smiling somewhere inside my heart…do you know what I mean by that?

All is not changed with my situation but yet… all is well with my soul at the same time.

I think of Horatio Spafford as he penned those lyrics of his famous song as he gently rolled over the same spot that had claimed the lives of his children and many other souls in a shipwreck. The story goes that Spafford was making his way across the Atlantic to join his traumatized, shipwrecked wife in England when the captain of the ship called him to the deck. They had reached the point where the shipwreck had occurred.

Can you imagine standing on the deck, looking over the rail down into the dark ocean water that had drowned your children?

Would you stand there for a while or walk away quickly?

Would you cry, scream, vomit?

I don’t know what I would do either.

At the deck rail of my life, I have shaken my fist at God…I have cried with deep anguish in tones I did not know I could utter…I have begged and pleaded for mercy…I have been brought to my knees.

Horatio Spafford went back to his stateroom and wrote the lyrics to It Is Well With My Soul.

His situation was unchanged.

He was living in a nightmare he could not escape from.

But…as the sea billows rolled, he could write it was well with his soul.

 

In her Jesus Always today, Sarah Young writes ” when your world seems dark and you trust Me anyway, My Light shines brightly through you.”

This light is warming and strength-infusing…filling all the gaps and voids that the darkness has tried to shade making me fill confused, empty, drained.

Can you feel that Light piercing through you when you need it?

You have to seek it…look for it…expect it.

In her Jesus Calling, Sarah Young writes this: “My face is shining upon you, beaming out peace that transcends understanding. You are surrounded by a sea of problems, but you are face to Face with Me, your Peace…If you gaze too long at the myriad of problems around you, you will sink under the weight of the burdens. When you start to sink, simply call out “Help me Jesus!”

I am repeatedly reminded of Peter walking to Jesus on the water during the storm…he took his focus off the Lord and became afraid when he saw the tumultuous water around him. Once he cried for help, Christ grabbed him and together they climbed safely into the boat.

Only then did Jesus calm the storm.

I have no big revelation here…

I have no real answers…only more questions if I stare at the waves around me.

Looking over the deck rail onto the water of my life I see waves that look like fear, frustration, regret, panic, anxiety, weakness, fatigue, sadness, uncertainty, weakness, doubt…

Looking over the waves at the One walking on the water, I see hope…peace…possibility…stability…rest…strength…

Keeping my eyes on Christ, I feel thankful…grateful…content.

I am not perfect in or out of this situation.

But I am content to be held right now where I am…in the storm…