Sleeping In The Boat - The Secret To Finding Peace In The Squall Luke 8:22-25 John 14:27 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 John 16:33 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Hebrews 13:20-21 03.23.15

SLEEPING IN THE BOAT – THE SECRET TO FINDING PEACE IN THE SQUALL

BREAD

22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let's go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we're going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”   Luke 8:22-25 (NIV)

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.   John 14:27 (NIV)

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.   2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”   John 16:33 (NIV)

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.   2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)

20 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.   Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV)

BUTTER

“I’ve lived long enough to know that unexpected squalls are part of the deal. Just because the sun is shining in the morning doesn’t mean you’ll see it in the afternoon. This life is unpredictable and, at times, terrifying.  But I’m tired of fear and bouncing up and down with every wave. I want to know the secret to sleeping in the boat.  “Where is your faith?” These are Jesus’ only recorded words to a nearly drowned, still-trembling band of followers. I can’t help but wonder if, in that four-word question, we have the secret to a peace that rises above the waves.  Where is my faith?  In myself, more often than not. Which is why an unexpected squall—every last one of them over the span of two years—unraveled me. A boat anchored to itself is not anchored at all.  I must secure my faith where it cannot be unmoored.  In the One who controls the waves and whose peace runs so deep we can find a way to sleep in the storm.  My faith belongs there, with Him. That’s the secret sauce between panic and peace.  Faced with my frailty and exhausted from fighting wind and waves of a life I hadn’t expected, I had to die to the self-sufficiency and arrogance that had fooled me into thinking I could do all, be all, without consequence.   Michele Cushatt

“Peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God.”  Alexander Maclaren

“Peace is such a precious jewel that I would give anything for it but truth.”   Matthew Henry

“Peace:  a quiet knowing that God can be trusted.”   Anonymous

“To added affliction He addeth His mercy, to multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.”  Annie Johnson Flint

“We sleep in peace in the arms of God, when we yield ourselves up to His providence.”  Francois Fenelon

“Oh, how great peace and quietness would he possess who should cut off all vain anxiety and place all his confidence in God.”   Thomas a Kempis

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.  Do not lose your inward peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.  Commend all to God, and then lie still and be at rest in His bosom.  Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God……Maintain a holy simplicity of mind, and do not smother yourself with a host of cares, wishes, or longings, under any pretext.”     St. Francis de Sales 

HEART SAVOR

·       When I have no peace my faith is misplaced.

• ·       Jesus gives me an unearthly peace through every circumstance enabling me not to lose heart and live victoriously.  “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”  Deuteronomy 33:12 (NIV)
• ·       This world brings trials and troubles but Jesus has overcome them all.