I think what I love the most about the way the Lord works is how my scripture study always seems to match up so neatly with my life – or else, my life matches so well to my scripture study. Last night, discussing the Relief Society/Priesthood lesson, I spoke of my determination to spend today vigilantly overcoming a bad habit. After studying today’s portion of the Sunday School lesson, Mark 4:35-41, I felt further strengthened and uplifted.
This short portion covered the well-known story of Christ stilling the tempest. In fact, as I read it to my children (trying to distract them from a fight), my five year old daughter recited it to me. Since I’ve never told her this story, I guess it means that she really does pay attention in Primary. The hymn, Master the Tempest is Raging, is one of my favorites, and has been playing in my head all day.
There weren’t a lot of footnotes in this brief section, so I turned to the same story in Matthew. There, I found a scripture or two that stood out, from the footnotes in verse 26 (actually, all of those footnotes stood out). These all fixate on the power the Lord has to still the storm, but since they all come from Psalms, they are especially beautifully expressed. I think my favorite was Psalm 65:7, speaking of the Lord: “Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.”
The Lord has the power to still the noise and tumult of our lives, if we but let Him. There are times when, tossed about amidst the waves of trials, we think or plead, “Carest thou not that we perish?” What we forget is that He is there with us, on the self-same ship. He knows where we are going; He knows our final destination. He is there to walk along with us.
Today, as I sought to change my habit and responses, I found the miracle of a microsecond. Most often with this particular habit, I simply react without thinking. But today (and believe me, today was preceded and accompanied by a great deal of prayer), there was a split second where I could ask, “Do I really want to respond this way?” The answer, of course, was ‘no’. Into my head came the hymn that has been stuck there since my morning scripture study, the aforementioned “Master, the Tempest is Raging.”
The Lord wants us to ask for His help. He wants us to rely on Him. As we do so, He will show forth His power in awesome (albeit sometimes subtle) ways. He may open up a microsecond. He may calm a storm. Either way, He will be there to guide us, if we but ask His help.
Related Articles:
General Conference: “He Heals the Heavy Laden
Gospel Doctrine: Bringing Friends to Christ
(from this week)
Gospel Doctrine: Baptized By Fire (from this week)