April 22

Written by Bill Grandi on April 22nd, 2020

Three of the Gospels-Matthew, Mark, and Luke-capture the story of Jesus and the disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. I’m pretty sure you know the story, but for review, a storm suddenly hit them and those hardened fishermen, who I’m sure had been through countless storms, became full of fear.  Jesus had fallen asleep in the boat so they woke Him up and He calmed the story (to their amazement).

I read a story years ago and saw it again this morning of a church that needed parking space. So they contacted the owner of the grocery store next door that was closed on Sunday (remember those days?) to see if they could use their lot. The owner said, “Sure. You can use it 51 weeks but one week it will be chained off.”  Out of curiosity, the church rep asked, “Why that one week?” “So you’ll remember that it’s not your parking lot.”

In other words, you will remember to whom it belongs. Let’s put those two ideas together for a moment. We all hit stormy periods in our life. The current crisis is one-just more global. But what if we looked at it not so much as a disruption but a divine interruption? What a difference it makes if we see God’s hand in this as slowing us down, of making us take stock of what is important, of recalibrating our lives. God could “snap His divine fingers” and this could instantly be over, but what is the lesson in that? This storm can be stilled, our hearts quieted, by the One who calmed the raging sea in our Scripture. Maybe we need to remember whose world this really is. We didn’t make it. We don’t own it. But we serve the One who did. Let’s remember that today.

“Father, this world is yours. All that happens is under Your watchful eye. I pray you will calm this storm and help me…help us…to remember You got this. You are in charge. And this is Yours.”

 

4 Comments so far ↓

  1. “Not a disruption, but a divine interruption . . .”
    Bill, that really puts everything in perspective! God’s got this, and He certainly, in this time, gotten the attention of others, too. This is definitely an opportunity to rethink our priorities and gain perspective.
    Blessings!

    • Bill Grandi says:

      I heard one leadership podcast call it a disruption. I agree to a point but I see it more as an opportunity to see God’s intervention in our lives. Thanks for the comment Martha.

  2. You put it into words, perfectly, Bill. May I post a link to this on my FaceBook page?