There is a storm raging in and around me.
I can't help but see it. There are so many needs, it seems everyone in my life is going through something and needing the Lord's mighty intervention. There are winds gusting to hurricane-force in some of those situations. There are waves crashing over the heads of my beloved ones. The threat is real. The storm of circumstances, of trials, persecution, suffering and life in general can be overwhelming.
This morning, I began by asking for the Lord to make me of one heart and mind with Him so I could pray as He would have me this morning. So, as I sat, I was moved to pray for protection. I named everyone I could think of, including people I don't pray for on a regular basis. I started with those closest to me and worked my way out. I just let the names roll off my lips without hesitation.
It seems protection of His faithful ones was on His mind.
This does not feel like a huge, mountain-moving prayer but I see how the enemy wants to discourage, disrupt and destroy the people of God. He wants us to gaze into the bleakness, keep our eyes on the hail of fiery darts that he rains down on this whole earth. Even if some of the people I'm praying for aren't very close to God, the last thing satan wants is for them to move in His direction. The best way to do that is by distraction, and he uses whatever means to do that.
Jesus quieted the storm. He spoke, the wind and waves obeyed. It was His power, filtered through His love for His Father, that enabled that word - QUIET - to be effective. Yet, I know from personal experience, He does not always speak that word into our circumstances. The storms of life are not always quieted because we need to see the storm for what it really is.
You see, when it FEELS like chaos reigns, when it FEELS like you are about to drown....when it FEELS like this storm will never be quieted....that's when a question forms and rises to the top in your soul.
WHICH STORM ARE YOU FOCUSING ON?
There is more than one storm raging and I realized it this morning. I was/am listening to a song that has been my anthem for over 2 weeks now; it's called Gracious Tempest by Hillsong Young and Free. I started listening to it the week of receiving His touch of love I last wrote about. And as I was praying simply for protection, I realized why. We need to be protected from focusing on the wrong storm.
Surround me like an ocean.
Your love is crashing over me.
It's surging like a raging sea.
Immerse me in the wonder of Your love.
A downpour of unending grace.
Consuming all my reckless ways.
My sin submerged, Your Love has saved my soul.
Your love is like a storm.
This song presents the storms of our lives from a totally different perspective. The poetry and anointing of it, I can not deny. In the middle of the YouTube video, the singer reads a portion of Psalm 116. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
I don't know exactly what your storm looks like, and I know some are worse than others. Yet, the challenge, as you get up to face it today, is not how to endure or survive it. It is a choice to ask the Lord to change how you see it. Rather than see the circumstances consuming you, look to Jesus and see His consuming love for you. The Father doesn't go back on His promises. He is faithful to complete what He started.
The Israelites saw a raging storm around them once. They were the waves of salvation and deliverance, keeping them safe across the Red Sea as they escaped Egypt. They witnessed the great love of God for them, making a path in the midst of what surely looked like a raging storm. The Lord didn't quiet those waves, but He did hold them back. Exodus 14 details the whole situation and it is no different in our case thousands of years later.
Nothing in heaven or earth can change who you are to God. You are His Beloved, His treasured possession. He longs to keep you safe, and in many ways He is doing that in ways you cannot even fathom, much less see. But you do have a choice - you can choose which storm to look at: your circumstances or God's love for you.
I know that may seem like the most impossible statement, which is why I'm praying protection over your eyes. I'm praying they won't get pulled off the outpouring of God's grace on your life. I'm praying He will protect your sense of direction and purpose. I'm praying He will extend His mighty arm over you and all that seems to be swirling around you. I'm praying you will be rescued and delivered today as your turn your eyes upon Jesus. The things of earth grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
I hope you can take a moment today to soak in the eternal truth of this song....it has transformed the way I see my circumstances and I know it will do the same for you.
I can't help but see it. There are so many needs, it seems everyone in my life is going through something and needing the Lord's mighty intervention. There are winds gusting to hurricane-force in some of those situations. There are waves crashing over the heads of my beloved ones. The threat is real. The storm of circumstances, of trials, persecution, suffering and life in general can be overwhelming.
This morning, I began by asking for the Lord to make me of one heart and mind with Him so I could pray as He would have me this morning. So, as I sat, I was moved to pray for protection. I named everyone I could think of, including people I don't pray for on a regular basis. I started with those closest to me and worked my way out. I just let the names roll off my lips without hesitation.
It seems protection of His faithful ones was on His mind.
This does not feel like a huge, mountain-moving prayer but I see how the enemy wants to discourage, disrupt and destroy the people of God. He wants us to gaze into the bleakness, keep our eyes on the hail of fiery darts that he rains down on this whole earth. Even if some of the people I'm praying for aren't very close to God, the last thing satan wants is for them to move in His direction. The best way to do that is by distraction, and he uses whatever means to do that.
Jesus quieted the storm. He spoke, the wind and waves obeyed. It was His power, filtered through His love for His Father, that enabled that word - QUIET - to be effective. Yet, I know from personal experience, He does not always speak that word into our circumstances. The storms of life are not always quieted because we need to see the storm for what it really is.
You see, when it FEELS like chaos reigns, when it FEELS like you are about to drown....when it FEELS like this storm will never be quieted....that's when a question forms and rises to the top in your soul.
WHICH STORM ARE YOU FOCUSING ON?
There is more than one storm raging and I realized it this morning. I was/am listening to a song that has been my anthem for over 2 weeks now; it's called Gracious Tempest by Hillsong Young and Free. I started listening to it the week of receiving His touch of love I last wrote about. And as I was praying simply for protection, I realized why. We need to be protected from focusing on the wrong storm.
Surround me like an ocean.
Your love is crashing over me.
It's surging like a raging sea.
Immerse me in the wonder of Your love.
A downpour of unending grace.
Consuming all my reckless ways.
My sin submerged, Your Love has saved my soul.
Your love is like a storm.
This song presents the storms of our lives from a totally different perspective. The poetry and anointing of it, I can not deny. In the middle of the YouTube video, the singer reads a portion of Psalm 116. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
I don't know exactly what your storm looks like, and I know some are worse than others. Yet, the challenge, as you get up to face it today, is not how to endure or survive it. It is a choice to ask the Lord to change how you see it. Rather than see the circumstances consuming you, look to Jesus and see His consuming love for you. The Father doesn't go back on His promises. He is faithful to complete what He started.
The Israelites saw a raging storm around them once. They were the waves of salvation and deliverance, keeping them safe across the Red Sea as they escaped Egypt. They witnessed the great love of God for them, making a path in the midst of what surely looked like a raging storm. The Lord didn't quiet those waves, but He did hold them back. Exodus 14 details the whole situation and it is no different in our case thousands of years later.Nothing in heaven or earth can change who you are to God. You are His Beloved, His treasured possession. He longs to keep you safe, and in many ways He is doing that in ways you cannot even fathom, much less see. But you do have a choice - you can choose which storm to look at: your circumstances or God's love for you.
I know that may seem like the most impossible statement, which is why I'm praying protection over your eyes. I'm praying they won't get pulled off the outpouring of God's grace on your life. I'm praying He will protect your sense of direction and purpose. I'm praying He will extend His mighty arm over you and all that seems to be swirling around you. I'm praying you will be rescued and delivered today as your turn your eyes upon Jesus. The things of earth grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
I hope you can take a moment today to soak in the eternal truth of this song....it has transformed the way I see my circumstances and I know it will do the same for you.
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