I am a prisoner…a prisoner to a disease that forces me to stay in a highly protective environment 97% of the time. I grew up on Bible Schools and I know God heals. I have witnessed miraculous healings and even have a friend who was totally healed from one of the diseases I battle. Yet, I am not healed.
God used these diseases to direct the course of my life. Sometimes, I feel like a failure because I remain unhealed and a prisoner. Today’s verse was like a balm on my soul.
Psalms 69:33, “For the Lord hears the poor and needy and despises not His prisoners (His miserable and wounded ones).”
Scott Krippayne wrote a song called “Sometimes He Calms the Storm” and the lyrics show two options:
- Sometimes He calms the storm
- Other times He calms his child.
There is a third option, “Sometimes, we have to live in the eye of the storm.”
If you are battling cancer, or an incurable disease, it is like a hurricane, not a thunderstorm that will pass in a few hours. It is a hurricane that can last for months or years and still bring pouring rain and flooding even after it has passed.
But there is an eye to every storm and if we can just get to it, and stay in it, until the storm has released all of its fury, we will be okay.
How do you live in the eye of a storm?
- Bring your life to the Lord, Psalms 25:1.
- Trust Him, Psalms 25:2.
- Hopefully look for Him. Psalms 25:3.
- Follow His ways and paths, Psalms 25:4.
- Learn from Him, Psalms 25:5.
- Make Him your refuge, Psalms 25:20.
- Wait for Him, Psalms 25:21.
- Pray to Him, Psalms 69:13.
- Praise Him, Psalms 69:30.
- Be thankful, Psalms 69:30.
- Humble yourself, Psalms 69:32.
- Seek God, Psalms 69:32.
- Tell of His righteous acts, Psalms 71:15.
- Declare His mighty strength, Psalms 71:18.
- Praise His truth and faithfulness, Psalms 71:22.
- Shout for joy, Psalms 71:23.
You may feel like you are the only one “Living in the eye of a storm”, but you are not. Look around and you will see others fighting the same battle. There is nothing more fulfilling than to help someone who is in the same boat as you. I write weekly letters to people who are also “prisoners” or somewhere they can’t leave. My current recipients are in nursing homes, but I have written to soldiers going through basic training, serving a tour overseas, those in jail, those facing a long recovery in a hospital, and those recently widowed. Grief is another prison from which you cannot walk away.
Sometimes He Calms the Storm Lyrics by Scott Krippayne
All who sail the sea of faith
Find out before too long
How quickly blue skies can grow dark
And gentle winds grow strong
Suddenly fear is like white water
Pounding on the soul
Still we sail on knowing
That our Lord is in control
Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child
He has a reason for each trial
That we pass through in life
And though we’re shaken
We cannot be pulled apart from Christ
No matter how the driving rain beats down
On those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always
Be a quiet peaceful place
What verse impressed you?