In Matthew 8:23-27 Jesus is with his disciples when a great storm arose, the seas where swamping the boat and they all thought they were going to die.  In a panic they awake Jesus and say: "Save us, Lord we are perishing".  He said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?"  He then rose rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.

I don't know about you but I know for me at times it takes a great storm for me to get to the end of myself and wake Jesus up and ask for help.  As I was sharing this week at an early morning chapel at our men's recovery facility in Jefferson, The Potters House it is during those times when the boat is rocking the most that I have turned to Him and He and honestly only He has been able to calm my spirit and many times use it as a means to change or teach me. 

Sometimes it take a very, very strong storm to force us to turn to Him and ask for only what He can give us.  As I thought of these verses and shared on these I thought of the storms that God has used to bring so many to Him or back to Him.  I also realized that many times people who love you the most are praying for God to send a strong storm to help you turn back to Him. 

This week we celebrated the graduation of 17 women at My Sister's House, who had completed the intensive discipleship rehabilitation program that God uses to change peoples lives through the Atlanta Union Mission.   As these women's shared I could only think of the storms of life God had allowed to happen to each of them.  A Mom who was with her 8 year old daughter, homeless in a terrible storm of life challenged by addiction.   Another women caught in the chains of addition that had a gale force wind that had blow away her relationship with her family.  A young women, caught in the hurricane of self destruction that had seen the waves destroy all she had.  For each of them they hit the point that had them cry out:  "Save us, Lord we are perishing!"  

So as they each got up to share at graduation they all started with the common words:  "If wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ, I wouldn't be here tonight and I want to thank Him for saving my life."  So for each of them as they hit these terrible storms of life they cried out and God answered. He calmed the storms and put them back on the path of healing and restoration.  

We all face storms in our life, "financial hurricanes", "the storm forecast of the scary medical news", the "lost in the storm child that we desperately pray will come back", to the "earthquake of a serious marriage issue" to what might seem like to everyone else an easy afternoon shower that is "flooding our boat".  It showed us in this passage of scripture that the great "storm calmer" just asks us to call out to Him.  He doesn't promise that always the storm will go away, He does promise however He will give us grace to handle it and that He will be with us. 

I don't know what storm you could be facing today, but I want to encourage you to call out Jesus, let Him calm the storm in you-lean into Him.  We want to support you and pray for you.  We have added on our website, PrayerNet for you to ask for prayer where we will pray for you and to also ask you to pray for us.  We would love to have you as a prayer partner with us.  We know that God answers prayers and clearly wants us to reach out and depend on Him.  We are excited about offering this and if you are facing storms in your life please let us pray for you.  We are asking all of you to please join, let's all cry out to God for our needs and those of the needs that are many times the least of these.  I am praying this opportunity for us to pray for each other will encourage and strengthen us all in our walk with Christ. 

Thanks be to God for His love and care for all of US!

Blessings,

Jim