Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Matthew 8:23-27 NIV

I recently sent my friend, Kathy this icon from the Printery House, Conception Abbey. The title is “Storm on the Sea of Galilee” based on the verses in Matthew 8, Mark 4 and Luke 8. I have an 8 x 10 image of this icon on my office wall. Here is the link if you are interested in ordering one.

https://www.printeryhouse.org/ProdPage.asp?prod=A04

The Episcopal diocese of West Missouri has a page about how to pray with an icon. “Icons bring us into prayer, or conversation with God, with our eyes wide open. An ancient practice, praying with icons involves taking into our heart what the image visually communicates. Rather than focusing on what is seen, we focus on what is seen through it – the love of God expressed through God’s creatures.” https://spirit.diowestmo.org/2022/01/a-way-to-pray-icons/

Shortly after I mailed it to Kathy, the Haven Today Winter Newsletter arrived in my mailbox. It contained an article by Dan Warne called “Rest as a Daily Rhythm of Dependence.”

The idea isn’t that we shouldn’t work hard, but that we should remember that it’s okay to rest, knowing that it’s a gift from God and he will keep the world turning until sunrise.

As someone pointed out, Jesus himself modeled this for us when he slept in the boat in the storm. The disciples were frantic and scared, but the God who made the sea was taking a moment to rest his tired, human body. He had power over the storm, and because of that when we walk with Jesus, sometimes the best way to imitate our Savior and express our reliance upon him is to rest knowing he is in control.

El Faro speaker Dan Warne

Here is a link to Dan’s ministry in Cuba https://www.elfaroderedencion.org/home

Even the winds and waves obey Him. Oh readers, take heed to this Master of the Universe, your Savior and King. Mind his instruction and directions for you. He is Lord and knows what you need. Rest in His love and power. He cares beyond your deepest understanding.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and TO KNOW this love that SURPASSES knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17b-19

This brings to mind that prayer/poem I had only heard snippets of until recently.

Thy sea, O God, so great,
My boat so small.
It cannot be that any happy fate
Will me befall
Save as Thy goodness opens paths for me
Through the consuming vastness of the sea.

Thy winds, O God, so strong,
So slight my sail.
How could I curb and bit them on the long
And saltry trail,
Unless Thy love were mightier than the wrath
Of all the tempests that beset my path?

Thy world, O God, so fierce,
And I so frail.
Yet, though its arrows threaten oft to pierce
My fragile mail,
Cities of refuge rise where dangers cease,
Sweet silences abound, and all is peace.

- Winfred Ernest Garrison

He is able to keep us, on land or on sea with love and power beyond our comprehension. Thank the Lord we can be recipients of that love and power on our behalf without having to understand and comprehend them! Help us, Father, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to KNOW this love.