Monday, October 27, 2008

Out of The Mouth of Babes




Last Friday I was on outside lunch duty with the Junior and Senior Kindergarten kids. About 10 minutes before the end of lunch, a wild windstorm started. Tree branches were whipping back and forth ... debris was flying everywhere and children were stampeding around the playground screaming, "it's a hurricane" ... and, "it's a tornado!"

In the midst of the screaming and the chaos, Jenna ran up to me. Breathlessly, she looked at me and said with the utmost confidence, "I can stop this storm. I know how." Of course, she engaged my curiousity, so I looked back at her and said, "really? How do you do that Jenna?" Her response was to press her hands firmly together in prayer pose and say, "well you just push your hands together like this and you send a message to God to stop it. Sometimes it takes a little while, but he always does."

I was sharing this with a friend and as I was retelling the story, the impact of what Jenna said hit me. Yes, sometimes the winds come up and things are wild. Stuff is flying all around us. What do we do in the storm? Why, take a moment, stop, focus and ask God to deal with it. He always does. Not necessarily in our timing and not necessarily the way we would like, but he always comes through.

We serve a God who walks on wild waves. We serve a God who says, look at me, get out of the boat and join me. We serve a God who says, "Be not afraid. I will never leave you. Have courage. Walk with me." We serve a God who reaches down from on high when we are overwhelmed, who lifts our feet out of the mud and mire we get bogged down in, and gives us a firm place to stand. We serve a God who calms the storms. What are you doing in the midst of your storm?

1 comment:

Jessica said...

what a great comment. I'm going to have to remember that next time I get swept up in a 'windstorm'. :-)