I have a friend who has Stage 4 lung cancer. He's undergoing chemo right now. His brother-in-law describes him as "not lookin' very good" and that the chills he gets from the chemo are "hard to watch."
Neither of these guys professes a faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Have you ever seen the movie The Perfect Storm? Sadly, it's a true story. It doesn't end well for the crew of a small fishing boat, battling against a giant wave.
At the end of the movie Mark Wahlberg's character ends up treading water in the middle of the ocean.
All alone. Without hope.
That reminded me of an old Bill Cosby comedy routine entitled Noah. Cosby told a humorous story of the Genesis 6 accounted, twisting it to make it funny.
"Noah."
"What do you want!?"
God then gave Noah a command regarding some hippos, and when Noah complained to God, telling Him that he was "sick and tired" of the whole project, God replied, "How long can you tread water?"
We can get pretty frustrated and upset when things don't go the way we want them to. Instead of trusting in God, we fight Him at every turn because we like to have things OUR way. According to OUR plan.
When we have a life threatening illness or some other major event in our lives, we can complain all we want. Our complaining won't change anything. What we need to do is get right with God.
When Mark Wahlberg's character was left alone in the middle of the ocean, do you think he prayed? Maybe. My cancer-stricken friend. Do you think that HE prayed? Maybe. But here's the key. God only listens to the prayers of His children.
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;” - Psalm 34:15
And how do we become righteous in God's sight? Bow do we become one of Hos children? Only By repenting of our sins, acknowledging God for who He is, and placing our faith, hope, and love in Jesus.
He may not take us out of the storm we are going through, but He has proven that He can calm storms and ride with us through them.
"He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." - Mark 4:35
God can calm the storms in our lives IF we let Him, and IF we believe.
Noah - Bill Cosby
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