The third letter of the Hebrew alphabet as we look at the acrostic Psalm 119 is Gimel.  It provides the background for the third lesson from the dog park: Open My Eyes to Blind Judgment.

Psalm 119:17 Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word. 18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. 19 I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me. 20 My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times. 21 You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your commands. 22 Remove from me scorn and contempt, for I keep your statutes. 23 Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees. 24 Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.

I feel a little sheepish admitting this, but while the man struggling to open the gate (just like I did) walked his dogs—one running free and the other by his side, I noticed something that I hadn’t seen before.  In his hand there was something straight with a white end.  In embarrassment, it occurred to me that it was either a leash that looked like a blind man’s walking stick or I hadn’t noticed that he was blind.

I paused to consider how many ways I’m really a very judgmental person at heart.  Maybe part of that comes with the analytical territory of thinking about things, processing alternatives, and drawing conclusions.  You know what I concluded?  I was sitting on my porch passing time and passing judgment.

It turns out that it was just a leash—as I pondered the many ways in which this man didn’t act as though he was blind.  He looked at the sign, although he put his hand on it.  He looked at his dogs although he used his hands to unclasp the leashes.

But I learned something about God’s law.  Sometimes I need my eyes opened to see what’s there.  I had been the blind one.  When my eyes are opened to God’s law, I can see that oftentimes I’m the one who needs correction—the very instruction God’s word offers.

Just as a blind man is a stranger on earth and needs to find ways of interpreting his surroundings, Christians can be blind to ways in which we are strangers here on both sides of the judging equation.  Whether facing others’ judgments or being judges ourselves, we can find ourselves blind to the real Judge.

Therefore, like the Psalmist, we can take comfort in being a stranger, and find that “Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.”  We know who the real Judge is and therefore find comfort in His word.

The next acrostic letter is Beth, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet and provides the passage for Dog Park Lesson #2 as I’ve been watching the comings and goings at the Dog Park.

Psalm 119: 9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 12 Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. 13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

As I was watching the man who had struggled to get the gate open (just like me in Lesson #1), I noticed his dogs exhibited two totally different manners in experiencing the state of being unleashed.  One dog ran about doing whatever he wanted, full of the exhilaration of freedom.  The other stayed close by.  Both were under good voice command and obeyed.  One just delighted in being near the master.

How often do I treat God’s Word like it’s a voice command to bring me back so I don’t stray while I enjoy the thrill of being free?  Do I like to sniff the outer boundaries of approved behavior and then return, but only when I hear His voice calling me back since I’ve gone a little too far?

The other dog helped me to think about the book on prayer I’ve been reading on the porch.  I asked myself, “How often do I act as though I am simply delighted to be near my Master?”  Do I hang on every word He says?  Do I cherish the sound of His footsteps and walking right beside Him?  Do I rejoice in His Word as the Psalmist does, “as one rejoices in great riches?”  Both dogs obeyed.  One preferred the master to the freedom.

I’m on vacation of sorts, watching my daughter’s dog while she and her new husband take their honeymoon.  Being unaccustomed to really pleasant weather, I’m sitting on their back porch watching what their dog is intently watching: the dog park.

This morning, there was a man who did the exact same thing I did when I first encountered the interesting and intricate gated entry.  The series of latches on the series of gates ensures the dogs don’t get out on their own, no matter how clever they may be.

This man tried to figure out the gate, completely oblivious to the same sign clearly posted on the gate to which I had previously been blind.  I didn’t see the instructions and neither did he.  Until the gate wouldn’t open.  Suddenly he looked at the instructions and followed them, just as I looked and did.  The gate opened.

I am fond of analogies and find spiritual lessons in all kinds of stuff.  I thought about how when we’re spiritually blind, or plainly arrogant, we can fail to even know that the instructions (the Bible’s teachings) are right there all along.  There is something stubborn about humanity in our wanting to do everything without listening to instructions, or following them.  But the instructions are there so we will follow them and find success.  When we know them, we will be blessed if we do them.

Psalm 119 is an acrostic psalm, each letter of the Hebrew alphabet beginning a new section.  Today’s letter is aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  God doesn’t lay down precepts just because He’s bored and likes to write notes.  He laid down His precepts, His laws, His statutes so that we’d follow them and live.

Psalm 119:1-8  Psalm 119:1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. 2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. 3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. 4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. 5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! 6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. 7 I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. 8 I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

For any of you who have been trying to access recent posts, my server has been down over the past 24 hours and some of my posts have been lost.  I always find it curious which posts don’t reappear.  I will recreate those which have been lost if needed.  Thanks for bearing with me.  It’s reassuring to know that we’re dealing with the Living and Enduring Word of God and while my posts may drop off the planet, His Word remains always.

Happy Easter!

Today the tomb is empty. 

Jesus is Risen. 

He is Risen, indeed!

1 Corinthians 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

As our Lenten Devotional Series for 2014 Be Still and Know that I AM God concludes, I thank you for joining me.

Devotionals and articles will continue on a weekly basis and will resume as daily devotionals for Advent.  Periodically, I will post sermons from Advocate Condell Medical Center where I organize worship services every Sunday.

If you have a question you’ve always wanted answered in depth, please feel free to click the “contact me” button or reply to the email you receive and I’m always happy to research and respond either with an article, devotional, or personal email.

Be blessed this Easter in the peace and joy of our Risen Lord!  Barbara <><

It’s Saturday—the Sabbath day—the day between Jesus’ death on the Cross and the empty tomb sealed with a rock.  Jesus is in the grave and the disciples, once scattered having deserted Jesus, are left on this Sabbath with many unanswered questions.

How did they observe the Sabbath in light of what had just happened?  The women who had watched where Jesus’ body was laid and were preparing to anoint Jesus’ body decided to rest.  Luke 23:56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Judas didn’t find any rest on the Sabbath.  He was tormented by what he had done.  Oh, he tried to make it right by returning the blood money to the priests.  They wouldn’t take it back so Judas went to work at getting rid of it.  Then, Judas went out and committed suicide.  Matthew 27:5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Where were the rest of the disciples?  Scripture doesn’t say specifically where they were that day.  They were without their leader and teacher Jesus.  But by the evening of tomorrow, Resurrection Day, we read this:

John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

So on this Sabbath day, the eleven remaining disciples had gone underground, either together or in individual hiding places before regrouping on Resurrection Sunday.  They were afraid that the same thing was going to happen to them that had just happened to Jesus.

Be Still in the quiet.  Take a Sabbath and remember everything I told you.  I said this would happen, remember?

Be Still in the hurricane of doubt and confusion. Remember that I calm storms.  Just Be Still and believe.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  Open your eyes.  I’m no mere man who died on the Cross.  Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I AM the Resurrection and the Life.

Questions for reflection:

1. Read Mark 9:31 “[Jesus] was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.”  What about our not understanding things can make us afraid?  Were they afraid of looking foolish in front of each other, or afraid of what reaction Jesus would have that they didn’t understand?
2. Jesus had raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead and Lazarus from the dead.  What made Jesus’ death and being raised to life different?  Read Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”  Will Jesus ever die again?
3. How do you react when people notice you’ve been with Jesus and then, treat you with anything from ridicule to disrespect to persecution?  Can you relate to why the disciples went underground?  Do you ever want to go underground?  Why might they have gathered together behind locked doors?  What benefit was there in community?

I can’t begin to think of what all was going through the mind of Mary, Jesus’ mother.  At the place where the Crucifixion was happening.  Seeing her son Jesus dying on a cross.  Witnessing the agony, the false accusations, and the mocking.

It’s easy to become so familiar with the story that we fail to remember she was a real human being with true human emotions.  Obviously grief would have been what she was experiencing because parents are not supposed to outlive their children.  Shock perhaps.  Confusion, almost certainly.

I wonder if she felt betrayed by God or if her faith in God was so profound that it eclipsed any feelings of anger and bitterness over what God did with Luke 1:38 “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said.”

If I’d been in Mary’s sandals, I might be thinking that this isn’t what I signed up for.  How on earth could this be what God had planned?  Should I try to stop it?  Would my motherhood have risen up in protective instincts for my son?  Would I have said “Kill me instead” or tried to purchase His release somehow?

Scripture is remarkably silent on what Mary was thinking or doing.  But Scripture tells us that she was there.

John 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

The words from John 19 are among the last Jesus ever spoke on earth.  Whether they were intended to still a broken heart or to provide for His mother, we don’t know.

But we do know this: There would be no replacing her son Jesus.

Be Still.  The death you fear as Mine is the death that will set you free.

Be Still when you don’t understand.  My Father’s will and plan are perfect.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  I take your words of faith as a servant and will bless them, often in ways you won’t know on your side of heaven.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  It had to be this way in order for you to be forgiven.  Come to the Cross with your sin and your shame and your guilt…and find that Jesus paid it all.

Questions for reflection:

1. How easy is it for us to turn Mary into a stoic and superhuman version of herself on Good Friday and beyond?  How does worship of Mary flow from failing to see her in her full sinful humanity just as every other person has?  She was a remarkable woman of faith, but that doesn’t make her a goddess.
2. What does it mean to you that among Jesus’ final words were those emphasizing new relationship in the community of faith?
3. How do you feel about Jesus’ death?  Let the words of the hymn Jesus Paid it All minister to you today:

Jesus Paid it All

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

Refrain

And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

Refrain

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

Refrain

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

Refrain

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.

Refrain

Some of us struggle with letting other people serve us.  True, there are many people out there who love having everyone serve them.  But for some of us—whether on account of pride or competence or self-esteem or being in a position of being powerful and needed, or just greatly disliking inconveniencing anyone—we would rather struggle through and even do without than have someone serve us.

I don’t know why I do this.

I remember after my daughter died, one of the teaching leaders from Community Bible Study came over and admonished me to let people serve me as I take time to grieve.  She said, “People in this world who enjoy serving others can find it difficult to let others have the joy of serving too.  Right now, people will want to do things for you because you’ve always been there for them.  It’s your turn to receive grace.”

John 13:1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” 10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

It’d be easy to project myself onto Peter…full of pride, fearful of not being in control, and opinionated.  Why did Peter respond in verse 9, “Then, Lord…not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”?  Read back over verses 6-8.  I wonder if Peter had a sense of dread in him as he watched Jesus start with other disciples.  Dreading having Jesus do something for him.  Dreading the humiliation of what Jesus was doing.  Maybe even judging it to be inappropriate.  Verse 8 is an emphatic statement.

You shall never wash my feet.”

What was rising up in Peter?  There was something not still in him.  After Jesus explains why He is going to wash Peter’s feet, then Peter continues by telling Jesus what to do and how to do it.  It is the pendulum swing from not wanting to be served at all to commanding how it ought to be done.  Peter was having a rough time with being still about service.

Be Still.  John 13: 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Be Still.  Let go of the pride that mimics humility.  Genuine humility is expressed in no-strings-attached service.  In serving for the sake of love.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  This is what Scripture says about Me: Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  See all the ways I’ve condescended to have a relationship with you.  There is no power play in what I do.  I do what I do because I AM Love.  Get to know Me and you’ll know how to serve others rightly.

Questions for reflection:

1.  Do you like it when people serve you?  What kinds of feelings does it engender?  Is a feeling of guilt among those emotions?  Why do some of us feel guilty?
2. Can you remember a time when you were forced by the circumstances of life to be a grace recipient?
3. Most of us have been in a classroom environment when the teacher starts going around the room and asking each person a question or to say something.  Think of some strategies for how can you be still in times like that.

John 6: 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

What was Andrew thinking?  Jesus sees thousands of people coming, points them out to the disciples and inquires about feeding them.  Andrew offers “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.”  Was the boy selling food or was that his lunch that Andrew was commandeering?

Philip (who came from nearby Bethsaida) saw what they didn’t have: enough food to feed everyone or even the resources to buy it.  Andrew saw what they did have: food, but not enough for more than a handful of people.

 [Jesus] asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. (John 6:6)

Feeding that many people would be nothing short of a miracle.  Jesus saw that “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26).

Five thousand men were sitting in the green grass on the hillside and Jesus—the Good Shepherd–was going to provide for the flock and satisfy them.  Little is much when God is in it, as the hymn says.

Where are you when you’re at the end of your resources?  What do you do when your ministry or your life’s work seems insignificant?  Where do you turn when all you have is a little?

Be Still.  Here’s what to do: Psalm 107: 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Be Still.  God can multiply whatever is in your hands and make it sufficient and more than enough.

Be Still and Know that I AM God. I who called you will say of your faith, Matthew 25:23 ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  Deuteronomy 8:1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. 6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land– a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

Questions for reflection:

1. If we could satisfy every problem on our own, feeding the multitudes in our own strength, would we see God’s faithfulness as well?  If the Israelites always had plenty of bread, would manna have been as meaningful?
2. Sometimes God wants us to bring what we have that is too little (e.g.time, money, food, energy, patience, hope, etc.) and by bringing it to Him, see that He doesn’t waste anything in our life experiences.  He can multiply what is small and bring enough out of nothing.  What do you have that you could offer to Him today for His multiplication and use?
3. The lyrics to the hymn Little is Much when God is in It follow.  Let these words minister to you today.

 Little is Much when God is in It

In the harvest field now ripened
There’s a work for all to do;
Hark! the voice of God is calling
To the harvest calling you.

Refrain

Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There’s a crown—and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ Name.

In the mad rush of the broad way,
In the hurry and the strife,
Tell of Jesus’ love and mercy,
Give to them the Word of Life.

Refrain

Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem too small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He’ll not forget His own.

Refrain

Are you laid aside from service,
Body worn from toil and care?
You can still be in the battle,
In the sacred place of prayer.

Refrain

When the conflict here is ended
And our race on earth is run,
He will say, if we are faithful,
“Welcome home, My child—well done!”

Refrain

Luke 8: 22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.

There are few places in which it ought to be easier to Be Still than when we’re in the boat with Jesus.  But oftentimes, we really don’t feel all that still.  We feel the motion of the boat as it is being tossed about on the rough seas of an average life.  Jesus’ simple command seems so friendly, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.”  Yet, the boat ride was going to be anything but smooth sailing.

Where are you when you’re passing through a rough patch of life

and it’s anything but smooth sailing for you?

If you’re in the boat with Jesus, you can Be Still.  Truth be told for most of us, we’re more like the disciples and Jesus might inquire of us,

Where is your faith?”

Back when I was in seminary, our family was going through a really rough time.  Employment was in upheaval.  We were going to have to uproot our family and move.  Family life was shaken as we grieved our youngest daughter’s death and tried to decide whether it was unloving as parents to leave her grave behind and just move…or to treat her casket like a suitcase and pack her up to where we were going so that we could still visit her grave.  Classes were difficult and I was struggling with learning Greek.  Waves were tossing us to and fro and in my panic, I did what the disciples did:  I cried out in fear that I was drowning in the rough seas we were sailing.  I thought Jesus said we were just sailing across to the other side but I realized my life was taking on water.

I could relate to the passage from Mark 4:38 “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’”  One day as I was crying out to God and well, crying period, I told God I couldn’t handle anything more.  I was drowning.  He gave me a vision (for the lack of a better word, think what you will) of myself standing on His hand with my mouth barely above the water and He said, “Does this look like drowning to you?”  It occurred to me that if I spent more time with my mouth shut, no water would get in.  Ouch.

It’s easy to have faith when life is smooth sailing, but when the seas are rough, we can still Be Still when we’re in the boat with Jesus.

Be Still.  Do you really think you’re going to drown if your Savior is in the boat?

Be Still.  As long as your head is above water and your mouth isn’t open all the time voicing doubts and fears, you’re not drowning, are you?

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”  I’ll tell you who I AM.  I’m God.  Get to know Me and you won’t be so afraid.

Be Still and Know that I AM God.  Job 40:2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”  Do you know who I AM?

Questions for reflection:

1. Read Job 42:1 “Then Job replied to the LORD: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”  How do we see God best in the storms of life?
2. Is Jesus truly sleeping up in heaven?  Did He doze off while waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool?
3. How can knowing God better help us to Be Still when life is rough sailing?