The Storm of Life

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Mark 4:35-41

vs. 37 “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.”

Vs. 39 “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm”

My heart weeps this very moment as I write this post. Life is a journey and we are in the boat of life. In one way or the other, there are moments of tears in our lives and we weep bitterly and mourn.

• The lost of a love one such as a father, mother ,brother, sister, a close friend, a son, a daughter etc
• That moment when we needed love most in our lives but there was none.
• Living with a sickness that eats you up for so many years and you spend all you have on it, but yet no improvement.
• That moment when you work so hard for something but at the end only failure comes as the output and you wonder why.
• That moment when you place your hope on someone and later you are disappointed by that person.

And you weep bitterly with tears falling like drops of blood and mourn in silence.

This hymn has always stood to comfort many in times like this.

It is well

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

              When sorrows, like sea-billows, roll,

             Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

            “It is well; it is well with my soul.

 

            For me be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live!

               If Jordan above me shall roll

          No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

         Thou wilt whisper thy peace to my soul.

 

          But Lord, ‘tis for thee, for thy coming we wait;

        The sky, not the grave, is our goal.

       Oh voice of archangel! Oh shout of the lord!

        Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

Horatio G. Spafford is the writer of this wonderful hymn. In 1860s life was good for Horatio and his wife Anna. They were living in a north side suburb of Chicago with their five children. Horatio was a Presbyterian church elder and a dedicated Christian. In 1870 their faith was tested by tragedy. Their four year old son Horatio, jr., died of scarlet fever. The Spafford were devastated. In October of 1871 when the great Chicago fire broke out, before the fire broke out he invested in real estate but he lost most of his holdings and many were homeless because of the fire. The Spaffords planned to leave in November on their voyage to Europe. The day they were to sail for Europe Spafford had a business emergency and could not leave so he sent his wife and family ahead.

On November 22, 1873 the steamer ville du Havre was struck by a British iron ship, the lockhearn. The ship with Anna Spafford and daughters aboard sank in the middle of the ocean. Anna survived but she lost her four daughters. As soon as Horatio received Anna’s telegram, He left to meet his wife. Sailing across the Atlantic Ocean the captain showed Horatio were the disaster took place. That night, alone in his cabin Horatio penned the words to his famous hymn “It is well with my soul”

Mark 4 vs. 35 talks about Jesus Christ in a boat, when there was a great storm. The disciples were scared and they went down the boat to call him. When Jesus came he calmed the wind and the storm was over.

In times like this, when troubles shake us in the boat of life, Christ is very important. Life is short and too short to stay without Jesus in the boat of your life.

In times like this, only God can comfort us in life and only God can calm the wind which creates the storms in our lives. Note: Jesus Christ did not rebuke the storm but he calm the wind, hence the source of our problem can only be tackled by Christ. We often spend our time fighting the storm when the wind is our problem and the source of the storm.

In times like this, Faith is all you need. For God has said, “I will never, never fail you nor forsake you” that is why we can say without any doubt or fear” the Lord is my helper and I am not afraid of anything that mere man can do to me”.

After calming the wind Jesus asked vs. 40 “…why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” He keeps asking us this question today. Faith keeps us moving in times like this.

The Big Question

Do you have Jesus Christ in the boat of your life?

Ecclesiastes 9 vs. 12 “a man never knows when he is going to run into bad luck. He is like a fish caught in a net, or a bird caught in a snare”

If Jesus is absent in your life or if your faith has shifted away from him, I bet you when the storms of life strike, you will not stand firm and you will be like the man who built his house on the sand and when the floods came the house was destroyed. Call on him, only God can comfort you in times like this and only God can stop the wind in your life. Weep no more for you have a father who hears your prayers at night.

Proverbs 3 vs. 5 “…then trust the Lord completely, don’t ever trust yourself…”

God blessed Anna and Horatio with three children after the storm in their life.

It is well with my soul.

POST:By Victor Bassey