Sanctified Saturdays: Waves of Peace

Storms make waves. Big waves, crashing, furious, energetic waves. I don't mind watching from the shore, but I sure wouldn't want to be out in a boat, in a storm, battling the waves. The risk of getting swamped and going under would seem pretty high. Still, I've had storms in my life that felt like that; where the waves were powerful, pushing and pulling me up and down and all around, threatening to take me under, to pull me beneath into the unknown depths. Storms where I didn’t know if I could make it. Or if I even wanted to. 

Jesus’ disciples experienced such a storm. Many of them were experienced fishermen, used to the moods of the water and weather, so for them to become terrified means this was no puny squall.   

Mark 4:37 TPT “Suddenly, as they were crossing the lake, a ferocious tempest arose, with violent winds and waves that were crashing into the boat until it was all but swamped. But Jesus was calmly sleeping in the stern, resting on a cushion. So they shook him awake, saying, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to die!” Fully awake, he rebuked the storm and shouted to the sea, “Hush! Calm down!” All at once the wind stopped howling and the water became perfectly calm. Then he turned to his disciples and said the them, “Why are you so afraid? Haven’t you learned to trust yet?” But they were overwhelmed with fear and awe and said to one another, “Who is this man who has such authority that even the wind and waves obey him?”

Image from Pastor Michael on Digging Daily on Wordpress

He’d had a full day of teaching and was tired, so he took a nap. Then out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, this ferocious storm threatens to swamp the boat and take them all down under the frothy waves. How could he sleep through all of that? They had to shake him awake. That’s some deep sleeping. In their panic they questioned whether he even cared about them, cared about their lives. Their Friend was asleep when they needed him. But when he spoke to the storm “HUSH, Calm down!” they were blown away by his authority, his calm. What did they expect that he was going to do once he was awake; huddle with them as the boat took on more water, be sympathetic? Maybe they were just irritated that he could be so at peace in the midst of this calamity. He challenged their thinking, challenged their fear, questioned their trust.

Here’s a few points that jump out at me. 

1. Storms happen. We will go through difficulties. It’s a given. 

2. Jesus in the boat makes every storm one that we can weather. 

3. Jesus can and does calm the storm when we cry out to him. 

4. He seldom does it as quickly as we’d like. But his timing is perfect.

5. He can sometimes be dramatic even with simple words. Calming a storm at the height of its fury is a bit dramatic. More so than calming it when it’s just a bit windy. He does this. Expect it.

We are not promised clear sailing, perfect weather or easy lives. We are promised Jesus in our boat. We are promised to not have to go it alone. We are promised his strength, comfort, wisdom and perspective. Does this matter? Absolutely. It shifts our view, gets us to see the possibilities, the solutions. When we get our eyes off of the circumstances and onto him we step into his shalom, his peace, and leave fear behind. Leave that confining, paralyzing fear and step into the plans and destiny he has for us. 

My life is relatively calm these days and, having weathered many a storm, I am thankful for the reprieve. Now the storms I mainly feel are on behalf of loved ones. I feel their pain, sorrow, sickness or distress. But I have learned, through my own storms, that when I take all of that and lay it down in his lap and lean into him and rest, he takes all that I give him. I rest knowing his answers will come at the perfect time. It’s a wonderful exchange. I give him all this distress, he gives me his joy in return.

Flooding me with his waves of peace.

Canon Beach, Oregon. Haystack Rock.

Travel Tuesday: Valley of Names

Hill after hill of names. We are parked on the other side of these mountains.

 

Even though we have boondocked off Ogilby Rd near Yuma for several years, we have never been to the Valley of Names before. I had heard it mentioned a few years ago and it sounded mildly interesting. In these desert places where vegetation is sparse, leaving rock names or pictures is not uncommon. After all, there are rocks aplenty! It's interesting to see what someone took the time and effort to come up with to decorate the desert.

A few old timers in the group decided we needed to all go see this place to pass on the location of one of those 'don't miss' local sights. I had looked it up before on Google Maps and zoomed mostly to figure out how to get there, but you can actually see the names from the satellite view. (32.874635, -114.683814) That, however, in no way prepared me for actually seeing it in person, on the group with my own two eyes! The sheer size of it astounds! And in the words of one of our group "How in the world do you describe a place like this?" Well, I took that as a personal challenge and went to work taking pictures from all kinds of angles. A picture is worth a thousand words and I knew I needed help! These are a select few from my collection. They really don't do it justice, so I must also try to describe it. As we were approaching the area, we could see a small airplane circling over the area, then we saw it land as we passed it. I think it would be a wonderful way to see this!

Our group parked at the top of the picture. The square at the bottom is about 3 ft x 5 ft in scale.

 

Even though it's just on the other side of the mountain from us, we went the long way to meet up in Winterhaven, CA, with others currently staying in Yuma, AZ. Then we drove north, winding our way past green fields of kale and lettuce, date farms with their huge date palms and irrigation ditches. It was a beautiful drive, but once the pavement ended, it became the familiar arid rock and dirt area, with a dirt road that deteriorated after a few miles into something that made us thankful for our 4-wheel drive truck with a high center. We didn't actually need that 4-wheel drive, but knowing it was available was comforting. 

Our first glimpse of the names made from arranged rocks wasn't that impressive, until we looked up and past them to the rolling hills of names that went on and on and on! Name after name. I tried to guess at how many acres were covered with names! The sheer scale and size of this was astonishing! One name spelled out of rocks is not uncommon out here. But hundreds upon hundreds? I was beginning to wonder if the lead car was going to ever stop so I could get out and wander around looking and taking pictures. Finally, easily a half mile past the first name we stopped. The names kept going. I eagerly hopped out and began trying to capture this surprising place with photos. Many with two names and a plus sign. Some with hearts, others with rectangular outlines. A few rock collections painted blue, some black. Some people had brought in bricks to spell out their names, sure to be visible from a satellite. Some had dates. They ranged in sized from 2ft x 3ft to 5 ft x 12 ft. Having filled our eyes with this wonder, we then went on to see Senator Wash/Imperial Dam (where we have stayed before) and then Mittry Lake (that we hadn't seen before). What a fun day trip.