Calm the Waters
Lord.
a devotion from Australian writer Ray Hawkins
My son and daughter in law own a
tourist venture called Seahorse World.
They also export these fascinating creatures to various aquariums around the World. Collecting baby seahorses requires the waters of the tanks to be
calm. This meant catching them before the adults stirred and were fed. Water
flow and air pressure were lessened also as swirling waters in the tanks make
it difficult to see beneath the surface. Often as I’ve been doing this the
statement by Jesus strikes to mind, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest.’ Matthew 11:28.
Jesus didn’t promise to fix the
problems causing agitation. Why? Surely He could have sorted out the issues,
lifted the burden or solved the problem! In effect, He would have been the
puppet master, not a disciple’s Lord. By offering us a calm spirit Jesus
trusted us to evaluate what caused our weariness or produced the burden. Peace
of mind shrinks a burden to a manageable size. When we have inner quietness God’s
word is able to refresh our weariness. The issues confronting us have not
disappeared but now we have, by the Lord’s grace, a more confident grip on
them.
Three words give directions for
calming the turbulence of our soul. In the reading they are, ‘Come!’
‘Take!’ ‘Learn!’ To ‘come’
is an act of faith in the Lordship of Jesus. You, I make a conscious effort to
enter His presence in prayer, meditation, worship and Scripture reading. ‘Take’ is a willingness to identify
with the Lord’s interests. The concept of the ‘yoke’ requires us to submit
ourselves to Him and His teachings. In so doing it isn’t long before we
realise, He is doing most of the load sharing. To ‘learn’ is expressing humility by acknowledging we don’t have all,
or even a few, of the answers for what is sapping our inner being. Regardless
of how long we have been yoked to the Lord there is always something to learn
from His word. Only then will we be walking in step with him.
Doing this by faith enables The Lord Jesus to calm the troubled
‘waters’ of our soul. In clear mindedness our decisions and responses will then
arise from godly wisdom and spirituality maturity.
Raymond
N. Hawkins
P.O.Box 379
Beauty
Point
Tasmania
Australia 7270.
e-mail ray.haw3819@bigpond.com
Ray
is a retired Churches of Christ (Australia) minister.
Mary,
his wife is a multi-published author of Inspirational Romance, set mainly in
Australia. They have three children and six grandchildren.
Live in
Northern Tasmania.
Ray
writes Biblically themed 31 day devotionals.
Works by Ray Hawkins include:
**Children, God’s Special Interest.
**From Eden with Love.
(The mystery and majesty of Marriage from the Biblical
viewpoint)
**Bethlehem’s Warrior Baby. (Understanding
Christmas)
**Captured by Calvary. (The wonder of the Cross)
**Dynamic Ageing. (We are never too old or infirm
to be precious to God)
**Signposts to Happiness. (Beatitudes from the
Scriptures)
**The Warrior Lord’s Sword. (Reflections on what
the Bible says about itself).
**The Warrior Lord’s Triumph. (Reflections on the
Lord’s Return to Reign).
These are 31 day themed devotional meditations.
They have been published by EBP – a division of
Wombat Books, Capalaba, Queensland, Australia.
Christian bookshops have them. Also as Ebooks.
You can purchase them direct from the author.
Poems - We love Because… (a celebration of 50years
of marriage.)
The Weakness of God. (About Christ and the
Cross)
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