Listen

Some of the redeemed had gone out on the ocean in ships, making their living on the high seas. They saw what the Lord had made; they saw his wondrous works in the depths of the sea. God spoke and stirred up a storm that brought the waves up high. The waves went as high as the sky; they crashed down to the depths. The sailors’ courage melted at this terrible situation. They staggered and stumbled around like they were drunk. None of their skill was of any help.

Psalm 107:23-27

Think

We might ask ourselves, where is God in the waves? Where do we find God in the storm? It seems to me that these verses tell us that God is in the stirring. Verse 25 says, “God spoke and stirred up a storm that brought the waves up high.”

There may be a way to read this and hear God picking on the sailors or causing them harm intentionally for some unknown greater good. But what if it is simply in God’s nature to speak and for the waves to respond as they know how? All throughout our world, God is speaking and stirring. Where there is injustice, God stirs up hope and a new way forward. Where there is isolation, God stirs up connection. Where there is hatred, God stirs in seeds of peace.

Sara Hunt-Felke

Question to Ponder:

If God is in the stirring, what needs to be stirred up in your life today?

Pray

God, I am watching the waves and hearing the winds whistle around me. Help me to find your hand in the stirring.

Amen.

Go

When peace like a river attendeth my way;

when sorrows like sea billows roll;

whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

“It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Horatio G. Spafford, “It is Well with My Soul”