He's the Master of the Ocean

This is a quick, random post to let you all know that I absolutely LOVE the old songs!!!!! It's been a while since we've sung some of them at my church because there are just so many good ones!! A few of my favorites are "Master, the Tempest is Raging," sung by Jesse Dixon, "Leavin' on my Mind" by the Haven of Rest Quartet, and "Somebody Oughta Testify" by Dottie Peebles. I was singing both of those all day today, and then after church I looked up "Leavin on my Mind" and on the sid was "Master, the Tempest is Raging" and I clicked RIGHT AWAY!!! I looooove it! :) I was sitting there just about bawling because of the power I could feel!!! There are a few lines that stick out to me from the two hymns.


The first one, from "Master, the Tempest is Raging," says "There's no water that can swallow the ship where lies, the Master of the ocean, the sea and the sky." Something about that stuck out to me tonight. I've heard messages about having Jesus in your boat and things like that. I guess tonight I just really put the connection together. These thoughts are going to be a little bit scrambled, but please just try to get what I'm saying.

Ok, so we can compare our lives and our walks of life with the boat. Obviously, we want Jesus to not only be in the boat, but to be controlling it. For the sake of this thought, pretend that we are driving the boat, and Jesus just wants to be in the boat. Well we're going through the "sea of life" on our little boat, and we hit the storm, or the problems and trials of life. The line, "There's no water that can swallow the ship where lies, the Master of the ocean, the sea and the skies," is saying that even if it seems like Jesus is asleep in your boat, your trials can't overtake you. You might be fighting the hardest struggle you've ever faced. You feel like God isn't there, that He doesn't even give a thought to the fight that's going on, but if you have Jesus in your boat, even if it seems as though He's sleeping, you can't hear His voice, you can't feel His touch, you don't feel direction, the storms and trials of life Can. Not. Consume You.

I have this friend, and she will know I'm talking about her, (hope you don't mind Buddy!) that has been going through a trial for three years. I won't go into details, but there are times when she feels like she'll be consumed, like she can't go on. If I was going through what she's going through (essentially it SEEMS like Jesus is asleep) I don't know if I could make it. But through it all, she has kept a steady prayer life. She's faithful to church, submissive to her Pastor--she has kept her walk with God even though it seems like He's not there. She is an INCREDIBLY faithful, and good saint, although the trials of her life are HUGE! But I know and in her mind, she knows, that because Jesus is in her boat, even if it seems like He's sawing logs in the back, this trial cannot consume her. He's the Master of the ocean, the sea, and the sky. He controls the dark clouds, the waves that are crashing against her boat. He is over all of the little sharks in the water that have tried to hurt her and bring her down (♫ Lalala, he's a jerk;)♪ Inside joke) I know that in the very darkest of hours it seems like God isn't there, it seems like no one understands, the trial will never end, the wounds will be reopened over and over and never heal, but I'm telling you, THIS WILL END. There are seasons, and a season doesn't last a lifetime. There are cycles, and God knows just when you're season will come to an end. When you are through this, you'll be able to see why it happened. "Farther along we'll understand why" as the old song goes.

I really didn't mean to say any of that, but about half-way through I started crying and just felt to try to encourage someone. God is there. He really DOES have it all in control. When life seems it's craziest, God is still there, He's still walking beside you, protecting you, helping you.