« Hungers of the Heart - A Closer Walk With God [4th in 7 part series] | Home | Our Newsletters will be posted shortly »
Guiding Our Children Through The Storms Of Life
By Bob Chance | June 25, 2006
Dr. D. Robert Chance, Senior Minister
Dedicated to Christian Aguilar on the day of his dedication
In the storms of life for this child and for all children and our young people the Lord will be there to watch over them, to protect them and to take through the storms of life, we and others will be with them and we will give them the foundation to learn how to navigate life’s storms.
Mark 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 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?"
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" NIV
It was a terrible storm. A hurricane moved in from the Bahamas. A cold front moved in from Canada. A warm front moved in from the Great Lakes to the west. All three weather movements converged on the coast of New England in the last few days of October 1991. Several years later Sebastian Junger called it “The Perfect Storm”. No storm is good, but measured by other storms the storm of October 1991 in New England stands as the ultimate symbol of the destruction of a storm. For more than 48 hours the storm battered the New England coast with winds of 200 miles an hour and waves that measured up to 90 feet. I can’t even imagine seeing a 90-foot wave.
Since then we have come to face many other hurricanes that have wreaked havoc on one part of the world or another. There was the Tsunami of several years ago and last years Hurricane Katrina. Both brought terrible devastation in their wake.
It was during a storm on the Sea of Galilee that Jesus gave his disciples the fortitude and faith to face later storms that would come into their lives. Mark relates the story in today’s text. The Sea of Galilee is a prime target for the most ferocious storms we can imagine. The story in today’s scripture certainly illustrates God’s power over nature but much more importantly it gives us insight into God’s presence with us in the midst of life’s storms – be they physical in nature or more importantly spiritual or emotional. The continuing lesson for us that God is always with us as we face storms in our own personal lives. In the context of today’s Blessing of a little baby I saw the story of Jesus with his disciples in a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee in a whole new light.
So here we stand with tiny Christian Aguilar today. What a special day, the day of his dedication. Loving parents, doting grandparents, dedicated family and a church full of great friends and Christian family surround him.
We all share one thing in common today. We all want the best for little Christian. We all want him to succeed in life. We all want him to be happy. We all want him to achieve the “Vulcan dream” – “Live Long and Prosper”. We all want him to live a long and blessed life. Of course without much thought we all want this young baby and all the little people in our midst today to have a long and good life without problems, without deviation from the right path and the good path. We all want him to have the best.
Could we but make it so, no doubt we would. But, we can’t make it so, and it probably isn’t even the best for him anyway. A life without wind and storm is a life without growth and depth. A life without problems isn’t the dream life we might think it is – it’s a life of boredom and superficiality. A life without stress is a life that will never achieve its maximum strength. The better prayer for us to share in common for all the children of our lives is that in the midst of their storms and struggles, hurts and losses they will know that Jesus is with them, that they have him to calm the waves and guide them through the storm.
No one can the storms of life. Our goodness or our faith or our desire cannot insulate either us or our children from the common storms of life. Tragic events come into our lives regardless of who we are. And they sometimes strike suddenly.
I. Into every life there will be storms, periods of loss, risk of life and wind and wave that will threaten to capsize our boats.
Here we sit this little baby today. I remember sitting with my own little children when they first came into my life. Little did I know how quickly they would grow up. I wanted the best for them. I wanted them to avoid the hurts and sorrows I had experienced in my life. I wanted them to feel loved and valued and appreciated more than I could possibly express in my words. I wanted them to know how much they meant to me. I wanted them to know how much I loved them. I wanted them to feel protected and safe and always in good hands. I wanted them to love me more than I could ever express in words.
Do you who are parents know the feeling? I’m sure you do. We all want the best for our children. We all want to shield them from hurts and bruises and falls and sorrows in life. We all want to protect them from harm’s way. We all want to shield them from the storms of life and the winds that otherwise blow them far from the shore. We all want to love our children and shield them life’s problems and sorrows and losses.
Yet, storms do come into our children’s lives. Storms in the form of falls and bruises, hurts and grief. Storms from the way others will treat them. Storms in the form of tears that will inevitable flow down their cheeks. Storms from when they have made us angry and we either punished them appropriately or struck out them in frustration and with our own human frailties and failures.
Life is full of storms for all of us. Little Christian will face his share of them, maybe even more than his share – that’s not for us to say or even know. But one way or the other this little guy will have times in life when the failures, the problems, the hurts, the losses, the pains of life come to his doorstep.
At first life’s storms are relatively small but the older we become and the more we live the stronger the storms become. That’s the way it is. Now that my own children are raised and happily raising their own families and I couldn’t be more proud of them I want to protect my grandchildren from life’s storms. As my first grandson prepares to go off and go to college I find myself wanting to go with him and help look after him. I’m sure that’s the last thing he wants. I told him, half jokingly, “Hey bud, tell your roommate ‘bad news - your grandpa is coming with you’, ‘good news – he’s a pretty cool guy’”. Drew is having none of it of course. But with all my heart and soul I wish I could help shield and protect him from some of what I know is coming in the way of cold fronts and storms.
But, I can’t do it. I couldn’t do it for his mom; I won’t be able to do it for him. With all my experience, and all my love and all my faith, I can’t stop anyone I love; no matter how much I love them from the storms of life. That’s the way it is. Storms are a part of life.
Right now, Mandy and Sergio know they won’t be able to shield little Christian from the storms of life – but they will hope and try. They will expend tremendous amounts of life’s precious blood trying. In the end, we can shield our children from some of life’s storms, some of life’s unnecessary pain but when is all and said and done they will have to face their own storms in life, all their lives, throughout their lives; no exceptions, no pardons, no passes. That’s the way it is.
II. Without such storms, without such wind life will be shallow, simplistic, and without room to grow beyond who we would be otherwise.
But we all know that life without storm is life not worth living. We all know that we can grow and prosper through our storms. We don’t want them, we don’t invite them, we try to avid every one of them we can but without storms, without problems, without wind and rain there isn’t a prayer our life will have any degree of depth or character.
Life’s storms build our character.
Life’s storms teach us essential lessons we probably can’t learn without.
From the moment we are born when the stress and “storm” of coming from the comfort and security of our mother’s womb we begin to experience the benefits of stress in life. Without the stress of birth we could never open our lungs to breathe. To breathe for the first time we have to cry out in the pain of coming into this old world. It is the first cry of what will be a lifetime of cries – and we will continue to learn and grow through our cries and pains of life.
The reality of life is that our children, this child, my children, my grandchildren, your children, your grandchildren, the children we love so dearly everywhere will have to face storms of wind and rain throughout their lives.
While we do not desire them let alone seek them the reality of life is that is through the storms of life that most of us have the invitation to grow stronger. The old adage of the wind high atop the mountaintop making for strong trees is not without truth.
Life’s storms teach us valuable lessons.
Life’s storms teach us how to survive.
Life’s storms teach us what truly matters in life.
Life’s storms teach us that we are not God, we are not in charge.
Life’s storms teach us that we are vulnerable and that it is being vulnerable that we often find life’s deepest meaning and truths.
Life’s storms teach us that we cannot make it on our own, only when we learn to look to God and seek his presence and his strength can we make it through the long dark night of the soul.
Life’s storms teach us to call upon each other and to be there for each other and in so doing we may just gain the strength to last each new storm that comes our way.
Life’s storms will be with us from the day we are born until the day we die. It is in learning how to survive them that we learn to live.
III. In the midst of all of life’s winds and storm the Lord is there to guide us, to protect, to watch over us and most of all to give us strength to sail through the long dark night of the soul.
There are three lessons I want to suggest for today. There are three lessons that I want these young parents to take home with them and for all of us to take home with us as we do our best to weather the storms of our own lives and the storms that will inevitably come into this little child’s life.
First, we cannot survive on our own. We need God.
The first lesson of Jesus with his disciples on the stormy Sea of Galilee that dark and brutal night of long ago is that He was with them. They were not alone. They were not left by themselves. God is always with us in the midst of life’s perfect storms – as well as life’s imperfect storms.
God will always be with this young child. He is always with my children. He is always with my grandchildren. I made a conscious effort to teach my children that God would always be there with them, for them, and beside them to help through life’s storms. I knew that as much as I would like I wouldn’t be able to protect from all of life’s storms. I knew that some day, as much as I didn’t like the thought of it I wouldn’t be around for them, either through incapacity or eventually my own death I couldn’t be there for them. So I wanted them to know that God would always be there with them. This is the first lesson we must remember for ourselves and we must teach our children.
“We are not alone in the storms of life – Jesus is with us – just as he was with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee”.
Second, we are there for each other. We need each other.
The second lesson is that just as the disciples were there for each other on that stormy night in the Sea of Galilee we are to be with each other in the storms of each other’s lives. No more, no less, we are to be with each other in life’s storms – anticipated and unanticipated. In the last few weeks I have stood in a funeral home with the family of young man killed in a tragic car accident. I have stood in the cemetery with a family that lost their beloved mother after a long and terrible bout of illness. I have been with a man who was despondent over the circumstances of life and feels lonely and at a loss without his life long friend and wife. The circumstances are endless. The point is the same. We can be with each other in the midst of life’s storms and although we can’t still the storm as Jesus did just being with each through the storm brings great comfort and hope.
The third lesson is that while we cannot prevent life’s storms from entering our own lives, let alone our children’s lives we can equip them to face the terrible storms of life.
Bring them to church.
Teach them about God.
Give them a personal relationship with Jesus.
Give them a spiritual base to build the rest of their lives.
Give them the church – the family of God where they will always have others to love them and to help them.
Teach them to be there for others, to reach out and to give to others the love and strength to get through their storms in life.
We can’t save Christian from the storms of life – but we can sure as heck teach him how to survive them!
Closing
The Buzzard, The Bat and the Bumble Bee
The Buzzard -
If you put a Buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner.
The reason is that a Buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
**********************************************************
The Bat -
The ordinary Bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
************************************************************
The Bumble Bee -
A Bumble Bee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it
is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
***************************************************************
People -
In many ways, we are like the Buzzard, the Bat, and the Bumble Bee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up.
***************************************************************
GOD IS ONLY A PRAYER AWAY
Storms will come into this little child’s life. No way around it. In the arena we call life the scriptures teach us three essential truths about living through the storms of life. They are:
1. Jesus is with us through all of life’s storms. Call on him.
2. We are to be with each other through all of life’s storms. We are here for each other.
3. Prepare ourselves, and teach our children how to live through life’s storms.
In the storms of life for this child and for all children and our young people the Lord will be there to watch over them, to protect them and to take through the storms of life, we and others will be with them and we will give them the foundation to learn how to navigate life’s storms.
Topics: Sermons |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
