Don't Lose Heart

In the voyage of life we feel tossed about by the wind and the waves. Sometimes we feel like we aren't even able to stay afloat. that we might even drown.

📖 Save me, O God,

 for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in the miry depths,

    where there is no foothold.

I have come into the deep waters;
    the floods engulf me.

I am worn out calling for help;
    my throat is parched.

My eyes fail,
    looking for my God. Psalm 69:1-3

But I was reminded, as I worked on next years Vacation Bible school stories 

HE CONTROLS THE WIND AND THE WAVES.

We are not to lose heart! 

📖  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.......

......Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:7-12,16-18

If we feel pressed, perplexed, persecuted....we have to remember Who is in control of the waves and the mountains.

📖 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!” Mark 4:35-41

📖 He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble. He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. Job 9:5-10

We have to know, and my prayer for you, is that you know this truth in the depths of your heart...

🙏🏼

📖 When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,

 you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.  

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in your stead.

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.

Isaiah 43:2-5

❤️

🎵 Don't Lose Heart Steven Curtis Chapman