Psalm 29:3 The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.
In October 1999, I went on a sailing trip off the Florida Keys with my Dad, brother, and sister in law. I was not much of a sailor but my dad and brother were the ones in charge and Jennifer and I enjoyed the sunshine. It was definitely a fun adventure and I was blissfully unaware of the storm that was about to hit. Turned out that our trip was cut short due to hurricane Irene and we had to evacuate early. That hurricane produced 109mph winds and caused $800 million dollars in damages. We escaped the weather just in time and returned home unscathed. I don’t remember being afraid or concerned, we just got out of there and came home. Thankfully we were not stranded and we didn’t try to “wait it out”. My memories from the trip were sailing close to the coast because the waves were huge (thank you Irene), deep sea fishing, and taking Jennifer’s amazing catch to a local restaurant to have them cook it up for us. It was a fun trip! Great memories.
The reality of the trip, as I look back, is overwhelming. Jennifer had recently been in a car accident that she was still recovering from, BJ was also recovering in her accident, I was escaping from my lonely life in Indianapolis, and my dear Dad saw all of this happening in our lives and was willing to take us on a sailing trip. We all had our own storms happening in the midst of Irene. These memories came to mind because of this verse in Psalm 29:3. The Lord echoes above the sea, the God of Glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty sea. God was speaking over our lives in the midst of that storm and that time in our lives. He kept us safe and brought us home.
Twenty years have passed and I am able to look back and see all that God has done since then. We have weathered those storms because of a powerful God. The power of a hurricane with its strong winds that cause enormous waves and turmoil on the waters are no match for God. He thunders and echoes above the sea. He can even tame the storms on the water as he did in Matthew 8:26, ” And Jesus answered , “why are you afraid? You have so little faith!”. Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm. The disciples just sat there in awe. “Who is this?” they asked themselves. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” The voice of the Lord calmed the seas.
The voice of God has the power to rebuke the waves and storms in our lives, whatever they may be. He is the creator of all. As you approach your day today, what things would you like to have Jesus stand up and rebuke with His voice? There is no limit to what we can ask in His name and trust that He will do. I trust that the storms that are coming are covered with His mighty voice in your life.
Shelly