Let go...

The words of a song have been roaming around in my head all day.  "So let go my soul, and trust in Him.  The waves and wind still know His name!"

Powerful images come flooding into my mind - Images of a tiny boat, thrashed about by squall-fed waves, manned by a bunch of terrified men, desperately trying to keep that  fishing boat under control.  They were out of their depth - and they knew it!  All of them seasoned fishermen - they knew this storm could be their end.

Only one man on that boat seemed blissfully unaware of the chaos churning around him.  Right at the back of the boat, He slept the sleep of deep fatigue, his head cradled on a pillow.

The waves crashed violently over the sides of the boat, threatening to overturn it or fill it to brim!  The sailors careered drunkenly across its innards, throwing all their energies into trying to maintain course into the waves and give themselves some chance of outlasting the storm.  Finally, into their panic, came the slow realization that they'd forgotten who'd brought them there in the first place!  Amazed at finding him, still resting deeply in the fishing boat's stern - their urgent cries wakened him!  "Please!!! We're sinking!!! Don't you care that we're going to drown???".

The man shook the sleep from his head, got to his feet, locked his eyes into the gale and with commanding presence, demanded the wind and waves be still.

In an instant, an eerie calm settled around them.  Their fear in the face of the raging tempest transformed into awestruck awareness of the power of that man in their boat.  '"Who is this man?"  they asked each other.  "Even the wind and the waves obey him!"' Mark 4:40.

Life isn't always kind to our sense of security.  We like to feel in control - determining positive outcomes for ourselves along our way.  But you don't always get to stay upright in your boat!  Life crashes down sometimes, knocking us off balance. We scrabble to claw our way back into control.  Our lives become filled with stress-filled events, as we struggle to fight our way upright again and again.  Gone is the joy of living in the effort of just keeping afloat.

The words Jesus spoke to calm the waves - "Be still!" are echoed again in another strong verse. "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10.  I've learnt that there is a euphoric freedom in letting go of the need to control life's outcomes.  I know my God.  I know he loves me and has always cared for me.  And I also know this - it does not matter in this life what comes my way, so long as He is with me.  His love holds me safe.  "So let go my soul, and trust in Him.  The waves and wind still know His name!"