A word fitly spoken is like APPLES OF GOLD in a setting of silver – Proverbs 25v11
Most of us are familiar with Psalm 23 which begins with The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. But if we are honest there are times when the waters He leads us beside don’t seem quiet and to us are times of turmoil and trauma instead. So what is this verse actually saying? We read in the Gospel of Mark chapter 4 verse 37 after Jesus had finished preaching He instructed His disciples to take Him in a boat across the lake and then a furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown? ’He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!
There are many lessons we can learn from this story, but let us look at just three. Firstly Jesus led the disciples into the storm because He wanted to test and enrich their faith. The disciples failed the test unlike Job who passed with flying colours -Job 23v10 “ But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” Secondly there are different perceptions of what a “storm” is-to the disciples the storm was life threatening yet to the Lord it was “quiet water” and He slept through it all. So friends when life seems so stormy that you feel you are overwhelmed and feel you are drowning don’t be afraid because for Christ it is “quiet water” because He is in control. As the children’s chorus reminds us “with Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm”. Thirdly because Christ is committed to “complete the good work He has begun in us” (Philippians 1v6) we will be tested with “storms” all our lives. However our perception of storms of life are far removed from the real storm which Christ had to endure at the cross for our sins and sadly is what awaits those who reject His free gift of salvation.
The verse concludes with the assurance that he refreshes our soul and that is a blessing Christians experience during and at the end of a trial.
God Bless Graeme Greenwood