October 13 Home Communicator -Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus
The weather last week was beautiful, yet the week felt ‘stormy’. In fact, for me, the last few weeks have felt that way. With all the things impacting our lives right now and all the things going on in our country, life feels stormy. And I am quite confident to suggest that we all would like some things to calm down and stop. It feels a bit like I would imagine the disciples felt that time they were in the boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee when a storm hit – the wind blowing, waves crashing, the boat taking on water – wondering if the storm would ever stop and wondering would they make it through the storm. This resonates with me – perhaps this resonates with some of you as well?
I listened to a devotional the other day that talked about this story of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. What the author pointed out about this story that really hit home to me is that Jesus could have stopped the storm at any time. Jesus saw the storm. He saw the disciples struggling to row the boat to shore. But what did He do? Before He stilled the storm Christ chose to walk to the disciples in the middle of the storm. He came to them and said ‘It is I; don’t be afraid”. With that statement, He reminded them that He was present in the middle of their storm. And with their eyes fixed on Him, they were able to navigate through the storm and come out on the other side of it. What a loving and amazing God! And the same is true for us right now. Christ is present in the middle of this ‘storm’. Knowing this and turning our eyes on Jesus…what comfort and peace this brings.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
words and music Public Domain
So with all the chaos swirling around us right now, let’s not lose sight of what is truly important and fix our eyes on Jesus. Let’s raise our hallelujah and choose to focus on Christ who is in the middle of our storm and not to focus on the storm around us. Let’s be united as one body focused on Him – our God who is present…who is the same yesterday and today and forever. Thanks be to God!
Serving Him,
Mary Broene, Interim Superintendent