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In a Midwestern state that was
known for severe storms, lived a
farmer who had a herd of cattle
which provided for his living.
He wasn’t able
to pay large wages and found it
difficult to keep trusty work
hands.
He found himself in need of a
competent worker who would see
that
the animals were properly cared
for and always be reliable in
doing his work.
One afternoon, a young man came
by looking for a job. The farmer
looked him over and thought he
looked a bit young to have the
qualification for the job, but
he needed someone badly and
decided to interview him. The
first question to the young man
was, “What are
your qualifications for this job?” The answer he got was, “I can sleep
through a storm.” That didn’t
make much sense to the farmer
and alarmed him some, but he was
desperate for help and hired the
young man.
Not long afterward, a terrible
storm came up during the middle
of the night. The farmer decided
he should go check on the barn
doors and
see if everything was secure in
the storm. Everything he checked
was secure, nothing left undone;
so he went looking for the young
man
whose sleeping quarters were
near the barn. No lights were on
in his cabin and there was no
evidence that he was up checking
on things.
The farmer thought he probably
made a mistake hiring one so
young
who didn’t understand the responsibilities he had, but he knocked
on the cabin door and waited for
a response from inside. Soon, a
sleepy eyed young man came to
the door and asked the farmer
what
was wrong. “Don’t you hear the storm raging out here? Why aren’t
you awake and taking care my animals?” “Oh, but I did, sir,” was the
reply. “I took care of
everything before the storm hit.
All the animals have been fed,
watered and locked securely in
their stalls. I did everything
to make them safe before I went
to sleep.”
Then the farmer realized what
the young man meant when he said
he could “sleep through a
storm.” He had made his
preparation BEFORE the storm
came, and he knew there was
nothing to worry about. “What
a gem I have discovered!” thought the farmer as he made his way
back to the house, went to his
own bed and soon fell asleep
Can you sleep through the
storms? You know, they are
inevitable!
A poet said, “Into every life,
some rain must fall.” Jesus
said, “These things I have
spoken to you, that in Me you
may have peace. In the
world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world” (John 16:33 NKJV). Sometimes, storms follow storms
and we fear shipwreck.
At times, we sleep through a
storm from sheer weariness, but
it
doesn’t bring us peace. Elijah had won a great victory at Mount
Carmel in competition with four
hundred and fifty prophets of
Baal.
They had prayed, leaped, cried,
pled with Baal all day to come
down
and consume the sacrifice they
were offering, even cutting
themselves with knives trying to
appease their god. When it came
his turn Elijah prayed that God
would show the people that “He
is God” and offered
his sacrifice after inundating
it, the altar and the trench
around it with water. At his
request, “The fire of the Lord
fell and consumed the
burnt sacrifice, the wood, the
stones, and the dust; and it
licked up
the water that was in the trench
“1 Kings 18:38 NKJV). Then God
answered his prayer to send rain
that would end the drought that
had caused a severe famine in
the land.
Infuriated, Queen Jezebel swore
she would kill Elijah because he
had
her false prophets executed.
When he heard her pronouncement
against him, he ran for his life and even begged God to take his life.
Weary from exhaustion and
weakened by fear, he fell
asleep. After
his nap, he would have awakened
re-living his fear and anxiety;
however, he was awakened by an
angel of the Lord who brought
him
food and comfort. He went in the
strength of that food forty days
and forty nights! (1 Kinds
19:8).
Sleep from exhaustion of
fighting the storm and fear of
drowning in it
is not the sleep the Lord wants us to have. We will only awaken
to face the same paralyzing fear that we slept on.
Turning our back on the storm
and just ignoring it will not
make it go away, and Jonah
discovered that when he was
running away from the
call that God had given him to
warn Nineveh of its impending
doom
for the evil God found there. In rebellion against the call, Jonah
tried to run away from God by boarding a ship, as if God didn’t know where
he was hiding. Apparently
pushing it from his mind, we
find
him in the lowest part of the
ship fast asleep in the midst of
a storm threatening to drown
everyone on board. It looked
like all was lost
for him when he was thrown overboard and gulped down by a
great fish.
Jonah got a wake-up call while
in the belly of that “submarine”
with seaweeds wrapped around his
head encompassed by water in the
depths of the sea. He wasn’t
able to sleep through that
storm; instead
he was wide awake pleading for his life. When God caused the fish to vomit
him up on the beach, he was more
than willing to carry out his
assignment to Nineveh.
How can we prepare ourselves to
sleep through the storm? One
evening Jesus said to His
disciples, “Let us cross over to
the other
side” (Mark 4:35), so they
embarked on the trip across the
sea.
During the crossing, a great windstorm arose and waves beat against
the ship and began filling the
boat. Where was Jesus while His
disciples were fighting the
storm? He was in the rear of the
ship
sleeping. Sleeping while the ship appeared to be sinking! He was awakened
by the disciples and rebuked for
not caring if they perished.
They feared they were about to
die in the sea while Jesus slept
on a pillow in the stern.
Why was Jesus able to “sleep
through the storm”? He had made
all necessary preparation. He
had taken care to batten down
against the storm and He was in
control. While the storm raged
and put fear in the hearts of
others on board with Him, He was
at peace. He had already
declared, “Let us cross over,”
not under! They had forgotten
the words He had spoken when
they departed the shore. All
they could see was
the storm. All they could feel was fear of threatened destruction.
When storms threaten us and all
we can come up with is fear,
then we need to go back to our
Captain and hear Him say, “Peace
be still!”
We will stay afloat if we stay on board with Him. We can sleep in the
stern as long as we remember
that He can “sleep through the
storm” because He controls it.
There never has been nor will
there ever be a storm that will
catch Him off guard. He is
always prepared, and He will
protect His crew from the worst
storm that can brew. Sudden
storms
may take us by surprise, but nothing can happen to us that he is not aware
of and allows. Even when we pull
a “Jonah” he has a “fish”
prepared to preserve us.
Tornado, typhoon, hurricane,
cyclone, sand storm or just a
mild wind, He knows about all of
them. No storm is
too fierce for Him to calm nor too mild for Him to care about.
Make your preparations now so
you can sleep through the storm
when
it comes, and it will. Jesus IS
the preparation to “sleep
through the storm.” Make Him
your Captain and you will always
be safe in any
storm. Remember He said, “Let’s
cross over,” not under and
we are going up, not down!
Sleep
soundly! Your Captain
walks on water and controls the
storm.
June 22, 2003
Delores Adams
Copyrighted. All rights
reserved.
My Other Website:
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Remembering Alice
Bible Studies
The "Handkerchief" has been
anointed and prayed over by
several believers who care about
you and want to help you realize
your full potential in Christ
Jesus Our Lord.
~The
Ten Commandments~
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