When you’re trying to be the calm in the storm, when it’s raging around you, keep your focus on the calm, not the storm. When it seems all around you will not keep silence and are focusing on the storm raging, can you keep your focus on the calm, or do you react to their constant noise? Do you engage in peace or do you get distracted by the turmoil surrounding you? I’ve done both, I admit. That is when I become Peter. I want to take that step out on the water. I want to head toward what I know is the only peace that will calm.
I step out and start walking, but then I hear the clap of thunder or see the bolt of lightning in my peripheral vision – at first I ignore it. I might notice the wave swell next to me and how close it is… then my mind starts to drift and my focus falters. All of a sudden, my eyes are not on the peace, but on the turmoil and I start slipping. The waters start to envelop me and I start sinking; I’m no longer walking on the water, but I’m submerging. No…! I’m going under… my head bobbles above and below the surface, I can’t see… Panic sets in. I can feel and taste the salty water in my mouth and I start to sputter and spit, my arms are flailing, and I realize… I’m drowning!! Where did I go wrong? What was I doing? I was in a storm… a million thoughts flash through my mind as I try to recall my surroundings and how I got here. How do I get out of this? Why am I drowning? Why is this storm killing me?! Why isn’t anyone helping me?!! Then I cry out, ‘Lord! Please help! Rescue me!! Get me out of here! Please! Save me!” Instantly, He reaches out and pulls me up out of the storm’s surge and I’m in the arms of my loving Savior. Relief! As I start to regain my senses and try to piece together what just happened, I ask him… “Lord, how did I get here?” He lovingly answers, “You were distracted by your surroundings and you took your eyes off me.”
That is the answer isn’t it? We get distracted by the things of life that trouble us, and we take our eyes off Jesus, who has the ability to save and rescue us. All the cares of this world will fade away, but He will always be there. What are we distracted by today? Where is our focus? Is it on the turmoil or is it on the answer? The peace.
Psalm 107:27-30 They reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end. “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor!
Katie Storme 