Thistle Cove Farm

Handmade life on the farm.

Sabbath Keeping – storms

by Sandra Bennett
Sabbath Keeping· TCF

“He calmed the storm to a whisper 
and the waves of the sea were hushed.”
“My boy, one small breeze doesn’t make a wind storm.”
 ~ John McGraw ~
“A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.”

“God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream  and something else – something it never entered your head to conceive – comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we have really chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side, God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.” ~ C. S. Lewis ~

“We men and women are all in the same boat, upon a stormy sea. We owe to each other a terrible and tragic loyalty.” ~ G. K. Chesterton ~

“You feel pain because inside you are transforming.” ~ S. Ajna ~ 

“Doubt swells and surges, with swelling doubt behind!
My soul in storm is but a tattered sail,
Streaming its ribbons on the torrent gale;
In calm, ’tis but a limp and flapping thing:
Oh! swell it with thy breath; make it a wing,
To sweep through thee the ocean, with thee the wind
Nor rest until in thee its haven it shall find.
Roses are scentless, hopeless are the morns,
Rest is but weakness, laughter crackling thorns.
But love is life, to die of love is then
The only pass to higher life than this.
All love is death to loving, living men;
All deaths are leaps across clefts to the abyss.
Weakness needs pity, sometimes love’s rebuke;
Strength only sympathy deserves and draws –
And grows by every faithful loving look.
Ripeness must always come with loss of might.”
~ George MacDonald, The Diary of an Old Soul ~ 

“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” ~ Louisa May Alcott ~

“All who sail the sea of faith find out before too long
How quickly blue skies can grow dark and gentle winds grow strong
Suddenly fear is like white water pounding on your soul
But still we sail on knowing that our Lord is in control
Sometimes He calms the storm with a whispered ‘Peace be still’ 
He can settle any sea but it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close 
lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm and other times He calms His child.
He has a reason for each trial that we pass through in life
And though we’re shaken we cannot be pulled apart from Christ
No matter how the driving rain beats down on those who hold to faith
A heart of trust will always be a quiet peaceful place.
“Sometimes He calms the storm with a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea but it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm and other times He calms His child. …”

“The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer but why some do not.”
~ C. S. Lewis ~

“Heaven is full of answers to prayer for which no one ever bothered to ask.”  ~ Billy Graham ~

“No one tells you when you get born here how much you’ll come to love it
and how you’ll never belong here.” ~ Rich Mullins  and here (a wonderful monologue)

“That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, “let us go over to the other side.” 
Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 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?” 
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” 
Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!”

Please pray for ~ Maxine who is drawing close to going Home; her family, especially her Dad; her friends, neighbors ~

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Comments

  1. NanaDiana says

    Hi- Just popping in to say Hello. I haven't been a regular blogger like I used to be- so I am catching posts when and as I can. Love to you- xo Diana

    Reply

  3. Dewena says

    All too often I've been "a tattered sail" in life's storms and the fact that Do not fear is written over and over in Scripture doesn't keep me from being fearful. And there's also the rock solid belief that "He can settle any sea but it doesn't mean He will."

    Our family spent Friday night at the life celebration of a beautiful woman only in her early 50s. She had only 3 weeks to say goodbye to her family and they to her and yet the passages her husband read from her journal moved all of us so much as to her faith to be still and let God fight for her.

    Even though a smooth sea doesn't make a good sailor, we sure do want those smooth seas, don't we?

    Reply

    • Sandra @ Thistle Cove Farm says

      Sometimes it feels I'm only "a tattered sail" and even as I am buffeted, His are the everlasting arms, holding me firm. and I only have to believe! The older I become, Dewena, the more I am convinced God has a plan for my good and His glory.

      Reply

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