Latest / Arise Women of God / Anchored in Faith: How Jesus is Our Refuge in Life's Storms
Transcript
- 0:00Are you passing through a stormy season of life right now?
- 0:04Oh my goodness.
- 0:04It seems like the whole world is in commotion and not only that, in our personal lives as well.
- 0:10And if you feel like that, stay tuned because we are going to be talking about how to make these stormy seasons go easier and better.
- 0:19And we'll give you a big tip here coming up.
- 0:22So stay tuned.
- 0:25Welcome to Bible Women in Bathrobes, the podcast where faith meets comfort.
- 0:32Join us Tuesday mornings as the gals from Women warriors of Light and their guests don bathrobes and dive into the inspiring stories of women in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
- 0:44From Esther's bravery to the Sermon on the Mount, we explore it all with warmth, laughter, sisterhood and maybe even a few sleepy eyed moments.
- 0:55Tune in live or at your leisure as we learn lessons from Scripture which empower women today.
- 1:02welcome to another episode of Bible Women in Bathrobes.
- 1:11I'm your host, Tamara K.
- 1:12Anderson.
- 1:13And joining me today is Tiffany Fletcher.
- 1:16She's an amazing member of our Women warriors of Light advisory board.
- 1:20Thank you for being here, Tiffany.
- 1:22Thank you for having me.
- 1:24Very good.
- 1:24Thank you for being here.
- 1:26It's so exciting.
- 1:27And I have a good friend that I she was back with us on one of the episodes on the Sermon on the Mount last year, my good friend Bridget Patterson.
- 1:36Bridget, thanks for being here.
- 1:38Absolutely.
- 1:39Wouldn't miss it.
- 1:40I know.
- 1:40And I thought I'd just refresh you guys a little bit about Bridget since it's been, gosh, a while since you came on.
- 1:47So.
- 1:48Bridget Patterson's journey embodies the values of faith, family and serving others.
- 1:53Her career in electro neurodiagnostics was inspired by her son's epilepsy diagnosis, leading her to become the program director for the Epilepsy foundation of Missouri and Kansas.
- 2:08Bridget is deeply passionate about serving and praying for others, discussing her children and sharing her faith.
- 2:16For over 15 years, she led the women's ministry in her former church before moving to care for her parents.
- 2:23Her dedication, commitment and love have earned her the title of 2024 Missouri Mother of the Year.
- 2:29And on honor, she cherishes deeply because she was nominated by her sweet daughter.
- 2:35So thanks again for being here, Bridget.
- 2:38Thank you for having me.
- 2:40All right, guys, today we are continuing our series about the titles of Jesus Christ and we've covered several him being the Lamb of God.
- 2:51We've talked about him, what Jesus and Christ means Messiah.
- 2:56And today we're going to talk about one that we don't hear quite as often, but it seems so pertinent, since we live in such stormy weather.
- 3:06And that is his title of being a refuge from the storm.
- 3:12And so I thought we'd kick this off today.
- 3:14And Tiffany, I'm going to ask you, are there any Bible verses or Bible stories that bring this title of Christ maybe to be more meaningful to you in your life?
- 3:30Well, for me, I love lighthouses.
- 3:33I love the ocean like I have always been drawn to the ocean.
- 3:38And so I find that the verse in Hebrews, chapter 6, verse 18 through 19, it says that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled
- 3:53for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.
- 3:58And then I love 19, it says which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.
- 4:06I love that.
- 4:08I love that hope that that's what God brings us.
- 4:11And that hope becomes an anchor to our soul when we are in the middle of a storm.
- 4:17You know, as I, as I studied lighthouses, there are lighthouses on the side, but there's also what's called light boats.
- 4:25And these lighthouses are where a lighthouse, you couldn't build a lighthouse because it was too dangerous.
- 4:31And so what they have is they have a strong anchor.
- 4:34And that anchor goes all the way down deep into the ocean bottom, and it holds fast so that when that ship is there and the storms come, it just is able to rock back and forth with the wind
- 4:48and the waves.
- 4:49And so it's not, instead of being solid, it's able to be flexible and move, but still stay strong in its anchor.
- 4:59And I feel like in today's world, that's kind of what Jesus is helping, inviting us to do, right?
- 5:04Like, the world is so crazy and so different than it was even with me just growing up.
- 5:10And so as we can anchor ourselves in him for him to be that refuge for us and know that in the storms he's going to rock us back and forth and invite us to be flexible, but also being
- 5:23sure in him, in that anchor of him and receiving that refuge and that peace and knowing that even if we're in the storm and it's rocking us back and forth and it seems crazy of chaos around us that
- 5:40he's our refuge because that's where our anchor is and he's not going to let us go and we can still shine our light and we can still do good things for him even in the midst of the storm,
- 5:52in the most dangerous parts of the ocean of the sea with that Hope as our anchor.
- 5:59We'll be able to overcome whatever comes.
- 6:02And I just really, I love that the hope set before us, that hope is what is going to.
- 6:11Is what's going to bless us and really fast.
- 6:14One more thing, like, when we are in the.
- 6:15Like, imagine yourself like you are in the ocean and you are a sailor.
- 6:20Like, hope doesn't come in the middle of the storm.
- 6:25Hope comes the minute you see the light and Jesus Christ is the light.
- 6:28Like, you can still be in the storm, but hope comes the moment you see that lighthouse and know that there's safety ahead.
- 6:33So those are some of my thoughts.
- 6:35So thank you.
- 6:36That is a powerful image.
- 6:38And I hadn't even brought in the idea of a lighthouse in my mind as we were preparing for this topic.
- 6:44So that's kind of cool.
- 6:45Bridgit, anything you want to build on there or verse you want to share on your own?
- 6:49Yeah, absolutely.
- 6:50When Tiffany, when you were talking about that, I just kept thinking about the anchor that goes down into the ocean.
- 6:57But our anchor goes up to Christ, right?
- 7:00Like, goes up.
- 7:01And.
- 7:02And as I thought through all the.
- 7:05The violent storms and in our scripture reading today about how in the disciples were basically freaking out because, like, the waves were coming in and they're filling their boat and all of that.
- 7:18And in James where it says, consider it all joy when you encounter these trials, right?
- 7:24And in First Peter when it says, don't be surprised, right, These trials are going to come, but to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ with deep rejoicing, so that it's his revelation of glory.
- 7:37And I thought, you know, yeah, these storms are here, but we're to count it as joy and share in the suffering.
- 7:44So if we put our focus on the waves and not the joy of how God is sustaining us in life, we're liable to start our sinking process.
- 7:58And so I don't know.
- 8:00That's what I thought about when you were sharing that, like, our.
- 8:03Our anchor is in Christ.
- 8:04So our anchor goes up when our world anchor goes down and kind of kind of rocks our world, right?
- 8:13Yeah.
- 8:14I love everything you've alluded to there, tying the anchor up.
- 8:20I hadn't thought of that either.
- 8:21That's a really cool visual image for me.
- 8:24Right.
- 8:25And yet it holds us firm.
- 8:27And I love also that you reference the story of Jesus walking on the water when his disciples were in the boat.
- 8:38And I thought, we may as well just read a little bit of those verses in Matthew chapter 14 if you want to follow along.
- 8:44This is where Jesus has just finished feeding the 5,000.
- 8:49And he is the.
- 8:55The He.
- 8:56He went kind of to pray by himself.
- 8:58And so the disciples went out on the sea.
- 9:02And it says in verse 24, but the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary.
- 9:09So they're battling a storm here.
- 9:11And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them.
- 9:16And I find this so interesting.
- 9:19Back in those days, the Romans kind of divided the night into shifts, and the fourth watch generally meant from 3am to 6am so they've been battling the winds and the waves all night.
- 9:36They're probably in a state of panic.
- 9:38And all of a sudden they look out over the water and they see this what they say, the spirit.
- 9:45And of course they're afraid.
- 9:46They're like, oh, no.
- 9:47Now, not only are we battling the storm, but there is something coming towards us, and we don't know what it is, and we're scared.
- 9:56And of course, Jesus, noticing their fear, speaks unto them, saying, be of good cheer, it is I.
- 10:02And I love Peter here.
- 10:04He is so amazing.
- 10:05And he says, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
- 10:10How neat it is that here he's been panicked and.
- 10:14And so nervous, and he realizes it's Jesus.
- 10:19And being a fisherman, he knows how deadly the winds and the waves can be.
- 10:25And I find it so fascinating that he has so much faith that he's like, I'm going to go to Jesus.
- 10:32I love Jesus.
- 10:33I trust Jesus.
- 10:34And.
- 10:35And Jesus, of course, says, come, one word, one word.
- 10:41Here he is, from a state of panic to a state of joy at seeing his master.
- 10:46And what does he do?
- 10:48He jumps out of the boat and he walks on water towards Jesus.
- 10:54I'm like, oh, my word, what faith that takes to walk, jump out of a boat in the middle of a storm and start walking towards Jesus.
- 11:04It is amazing to me, this story.
- 11:07And then you mentioned something, Bridget, about keeping your focus on Jesus.
- 11:11And I think this is such a great lesson for us in the storms of life, right, that we all have moments when we're like, it's Jesus, Jesus, I'm gonna walk on water.
- 11:24And we do.
- 11:24We do amazing things.
- 11:26We walk on water in the middle of storms.
- 11:29And what happens?
- 11:30Those storms get worse, or all of a sudden we slightly shift our focus off of Jesus and we become afraid, as it says in verse 30, and we begin to sink.
- 11:44And at those moment we're like, I'm drowning.
- 11:46God save me, right?
- 11:48We call to Jesus like Peter did, and Lord, save me.
- 11:52And he stretches forth his hand and he can, he can save us.
- 11:57He can pull us out of the depths.
- 12:02And interesting.
- 12:04His rebuke is, oh, ye of little faith, wherefore did you doubt?
- 12:07You know, and so I'm just gonna pause and open that up, that whole story and, and the story of walking on water and the story of, of having faith and then losing our focus on Christ and just see
- 12:23if you guys have any comments on that beautiful story from Jesus's life.
- 12:28Bridgit, we'll start with you and then we'll.
- 12:30Tiffany, I thought how interesting, the paradox in this whole.
- 12:35In.
- 12:36In those verses that you just read, right?
- 12:38Because they were in the middle of God's will, right?
- 12:42Because he said, come and they got in the boat.
- 12:45So here they are in the middle of God's will, but yet they're also in the middle of this storm, right?
- 12:54The perfect storm.
- 12:55The winds hit just.
- 12:56Right, the sudden reality of the storm that came upon them.
- 13:01So here they're following God's will, but they're in the storm.
- 13:04And I just thought that was just so like us, like you said, sometimes we jump out of the boat and we're doing our things and then, and then the storm comes.
- 13:16So storms aren't always that punishment of lack of obedience.
- 13:21Sometimes they come when we're being obedient, right?
- 13:26And sometimes they're that.
- 13:28That result of that obedience.
- 13:30But God was there.
- 13:31His presence was there.
- 13:33And bringing that into those other.
- 13:36The verses, you know, that he was there and he said, come on, walk to me.
- 13:42And so that paradox is just really cool to me that, that sometimes where we're doing the right thing, but yet we still find ourselves in a storm and, and we know the presence of God was with them as,
- 13:57as we continue on.
- 13:58But.
- 13:59Yeah.
- 14:00Oh, that is a beautiful way to look at it.
- 14:03Thank you.
- 14:03Thank you for sharing it.
- 14:04Tiffany.
- 14:06As I was, as I was reading this, I.
- 14:09There was a couple of things that stuck out to me, and that was the first command he gave them to be of good cheer and be not afraid.
- 14:15I don't know how I would feel if I was in the middle of a storm.
- 14:19And the Savior said, be of good cheer.
- 14:21Don't be afraid.
- 14:22Don't be afraid.
- 14:23And I think that sometimes he's inviting us to do the same thing in our storms, right?
- 14:27Like our storms are hard and they're, they're troubling and they're trying, but he's inviting us be of good cheer and don't be afraid of these storms because I am in them with you.
- 14:36He was standing right there in the storm with them.
- 14:40And, and I think that sometimes we forget that we forget that he is with us, standing in the storm, right next to us, and, and that we can be of good cheer because we know that he is there.
- 14:54And the other thing is, is something I never realized before until I read it for this podcast today is verse 32.
- 15:01And he says, and when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
- 15:05And I think it's interesting that he invited him to come out into the storm with him.
- 15:09He did not quiet the winds.
- 15:11It was that that wind was part of the test, right?
- 15:16It was part of the, the trial to see if he would focus on Jesus.
- 15:20And, and sometimes we're asking God, please just make it easier for me, right?
- 15:24Please, please just quiet the storm and make it easier for me.
- 15:27But sometimes God's going to invite us to come out in the storm and he's going to invite us to see the miracles that he can create when we do.
- 15:36And I think that that is the faith, right?
- 15:39That is the faith that when we can step out into the storm, into the wind, into the waves, that he can make miracles happen for ourselves.
- 15:49And every other man in that ship was able to see, would have been able to see Peter walk on water in faith.
- 15:55It's amazing what we can do in the storms and how God can perform his miracles.
- 16:00And then he wants to remind us that he's our safety in the storm, right?
- 16:05The wind didn't cease, but focusing on him as our safety and our refuge.
- 16:09And then, you know, when the, when the storm is over, he will quiet the storm, he'll quiet the wind and bring us back in the safety of a ship and we'll be able to move forward having learned valuable
- 16:22lessons and gaining value, valuable experience while we are in that storm.
- 16:27So those are some of the thoughts that I had with this story.
- 16:30Wow, there's so much there.
- 16:33Oh, thank you.
- 16:34Thank you for your insight.
- 16:36I love that, that I.
- 16:37And I hadn't noticed that either, that the storm ceased when they got back in the boat.
- 16:41Sometimes he does ask us to do hard things, things that test our faith during the middle of a storm.
- 16:46Right?
- 16:48The thought that was coming to my mind as we were talking about it being in that fourth watch of the night, they had labored all night long.
- 16:58And sometimes, you guys, that time right before dawn is the hardest, metaphorically speaking, in our storm that we're passing through.
- 17:09It reminded me of a time when I have a son, Nathan, who has low functioning autism.
- 17:15And when he was younger, kids with autism often don't sleep very well.
- 17:23And so he would wake up at 2 or 1 or 3 in the morning and not want to stay in his room and throw these fits and stuff like that.
- 17:34And one night he was up really early, I think it was like one in the morning.
- 17:38And my husband and I would sometimes do shifts and we would just tuck a pillow and a blanket underneath his bed and when we went in to lay beside him on the floor, we would pull that pillow and
- 17:51blanket out and just try to get some rest.
- 17:53Even though it was hard because usually he was mad at us that we trained him to stay in his bed till his clock said six.
- 18:02And it did work.
- 18:03But those that first six or seven months of trying to implement it were very, very hard.
- 18:08And this particular night, everything we tried, nothing helped calm him, nothing.
- 18:16He just screamed and cried.
- 18:18We prayed with him, we gave him Tylenol.
- 18:21We're like he couldn't tell us if he was in pain, you know, I mean, we tried everything we could think and dealing with a child who can express there's, this is my need.
- 18:34And just hearing them scream and cry for hour after hour, it just, it wears you down emotionally and physically.
- 18:42We were exhausted and so I took a shift and then my husband took a shift because I went downstairs and I was sobbing at that point.
- 18:50He says, tamara, just lay down for maybe an hour and then I'll switch your shifts again and I can start getting ready for work.
- 18:56So I mean, we'd been dealing with this for hours and hours and hours, just praying, God, where are you?
- 19:02We are in the middle of this storm here.
- 19:04We don't know what to do.
- 19:06And so we swapped out and I came back and it was, it was in that fourth watch of the night, right before dawn.
- 19:15And there I was praying to God again, weary, exhausted, so at my wits end.
- 19:24And I just finally said, I don't know what else to pray for.
- 19:29I have prayed for everything I can think of.
- 19:33Nothing has changed.
- 19:37Please help me know what I can pray for.
- 19:40Please help me know and strengthen me to know what I'm not seeing.
- 19:46And in that fourth watch of the night, God whispered, Tamara, prayer for angels.
- 19:57And so I began praying that my grandma and grandpa who had passed and my husband's grandparents would come and any other loved one that I knew was on the other side.
- 20:10I prayed and they came into that dark night.
- 20:17And though I couldn't see them, I could feel them.
- 20:20And peace filled that room.
- 20:23And Nathan SOBS lessened and they strengthened me and they blessed him.
- 20:33And was it a difficult night?
- 20:35Oh, yes.
- 20:36But did I learn a powerful, powerful lesson in that fourth watch?
- 20:43Yes, and it's one I wouldn't unlearn for anything.
- 20:49And so those.
- 20:51Sometimes it is in those last moments when we feel like giving up hope, when we feel we're clinging on to the edge with our fingernails and about to fall over, that an insight comes, or we learn a powerful
- 21:05lesson with God.
- 21:07And so I'm thankful.
- 21:08I'm thankful for those lessons that come after enduring long periods or long trials.
- 21:17Sometimes there's things that maybe we only learn because we are so at our wit's end and don't know what else to pray for.
- 21:26Oh, I didn't know I was going to be sharing that story.
- 21:30Gotta wipe my.
- 21:31Can I share something?
- 21:32Yeah.
- 21:33That still Psalms 91.
- 21:35I think this goes.
- 21:36It goes right along with what you're saying.
- 21:38Psalms 91, verse 9 through 12 says, because thou has made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
- 21:49For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways, they shall bear thee up in their hands.
- 22:00Isn't that amazing how there's a scripture that just follows exactly the experience that you had, that as you made him your refuge, that you called upon those angels, because that is the promise that if we make him our
- 22:15refuge, he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways, they shall bear thee up in their hands.
- 22:24How incredible is that, that you experience that and that we all can, if we remember to make him our refuge, that we can call down those angels, because that is a promise he's given to us to be able
- 22:36to receive them.
- 22:37So beautiful.
- 22:39So, so beautiful.
- 22:40Oh my goodness.
- 22:43All right, something really quick here too, because if you go over to Mark's story right in verse, chapter 4, verse 38, or back up to 37, so the winds and the waves, they're filling up the boat.
- 22:57And then Jesus himself was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
- 23:01And when you're talking about like, where am I?
- 23:03I'm at my wits end.
- 23:04I don't know what's going on.
- 23:05Where is God?
- 23:07They woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
- 23:11And he got up and rebuked the winds and said to the sea, hush, be still.
- 23:15And the winds died down and it became perfectly calm.
- 23:18And then verse 40 and he said unto them, why are you afraid?
- 23:21Do you still have no faith?
- 23:24They became very much afraid and said to one another, who is this?
- 23:28And even that the winds and seas obey him.
- 23:32And I think about the presence of God in the storms of our lives, right?
- 23:38The, the disciples obviously had yet to learn who Jesus was, right?
- 23:44They had to learn and realize his power and authority that they, that he held.
- 23:51Because if they did, they would have jumped up and would like, hey, winds, hey, hey, waves.
- 23:57We're laughing at you because this is Jesus and we know his power here and you have no authority over us whatsoever.
- 24:07But they obviously hadn't realized that yet in the middle of their storm, that there was.
- 24:13That there was the presence.
- 24:14And I think that some people believe in the power of God, but they're not sure about the presence of God, right?
- 24:22They know who God is.
- 24:24They believe that there is a God, but they don't.
- 24:28They're not sure about his presence.
- 24:31They knew he was there, right?
- 24:34They knew Jesus was there in the boat, but apparently they still didn't realize that he was God, right?
- 24:41Like Jesus is God.
- 24:43And so, so this really points to that they were unaware of God's presence.
- 24:51So they didn't realize what Jesus could or would do in their lives in the storm.
- 24:57They didn't realize that he could calm the sea in that moment, that he could take control of the wind and the sea.
- 25:07They had not come to believe that Jesus was God, you know, and that is so huge.
- 25:14And I'm sure I don't know what all the names of God that you guys have studied in these last recordings that you've done, but Emmanuel, right, God is with us in the middle of those storms.
- 25:28And because of that, he brings that peace into our lives.
- 25:33Jesus rebuked the wind.
- 25:35He.
- 25:36The winds obeyed him.
- 25:37And you reference that back just like the demons, right?
- 25:41When God casts out the demons, the demons, they knew who God was and he was able to rebuke them, and they were cast away.
- 25:52And that's the presence of Jesus in our lives.
- 25:56And that that power is God because Jesus is God.
- 26:00And I think when.
- 26:02When we have that knowledge of what the power of God can do in the person of Jesus, we can have that peace.
- 26:14And I thought it was so cool that he first brought the peace in their circumstances, right?
- 26:20And then he calmed their anxious hearts.
- 26:23And I think that is so paramount.
- 26:25And I am so, so, so thankful for when those moments come, when he stills the storms and the chaos around us, when our emotions are running high and, and the Chaos of.
- 26:39Of our world is.
- 26:40Is so prevalent that our Heavenly Father is kind and patient with us when those storms of life overwhelm us and we're filled with anxiety and such, and he's gracious to show us that love and that calmness.
- 26:55But we can face whatever circumstances await us, and we can just reflect on his faithfulness.
- 27:01That's why I love journaling, right?
- 27:03Because we at his faithfulness and we can see just exactly how he calmed those storms previously in our life.
- 27:13And we can find confidence in his power and his loving purpose for our life that there's a purpose for those storms.
- 27:22And, you know, peace isn't the absence of stress, but peace is the presence of the Savior.
- 27:28And that's what the disciples learned in that boat, that.
- 27:32That the presence of Jesus was the power over those storms.
- 27:38I love so much of what you said there.
- 27:40I love the.
- 27:41The difference between the presence and the power.
- 27:44And you can combine those two together.
- 27:47Nothing is impossible when we are yoked to our God.
- 27:52You know, that is such a powerful reminder that sometimes we do.
- 27:57We panic.
- 27:58And I do that too.
- 27:59I struggle with anxiety, and so I'm like, oh, my goodness, how am I going to handle this?
- 28:04And sometimes we let that fear overtake us.
- 28:07When I love how you say, said about Jesus being able to cast out devils, he can also help us cast out that anxiety and bring in peace.
- 28:16And we can do that in his name, you know, 100%.
- 28:20I mean, those disciples, what.
- 28:22What he did was brought full attention to himself, right?
- 28:26And what he could.
- 28:28And there's no shortage of storms.
- 28:32We don't have to seek them out or ask for them because there is absolutely no shortage of storms.
- 28:40And sometimes I think we live with a delusion of the adequacy of those storms, and they often can cut us down to size.
- 28:51Right?
- 28:51Like, we don't have the capacity to weather them by ourselves.
- 28:59Yeah, yeah.
- 29:01That's a very good observation, Tiffany.
- 29:04Anything you want to tack on here with this story?
- 29:06I just.
- 29:07I think it's interesting that in both stories that we talked about, he.
- 29:10He says, fear not.
- 29:12You know, that is something like, why do you fear?
- 29:15And that is something I think that we, as, as, you know, disciples of Christ need to remember.
- 29:21We.
- 29:21We don't need to fear.
- 29:23And.
- 29:24And I love how he quieted the storm and then he quieted them.
- 29:27And sometimes he does that.
- 29:28Sometimes he storm and then he quiets us, and sometimes he quiets us and he lets the storm rage around us.
- 29:35And I think that that's really an important thing for us to understand that sometimes he's not going to quiet the storm and he's going to quiet us and he's going to say peace be still to our soul and
- 29:49invite the storm within to, to cease while the storm around us still rages.
- 29:55And I, I imagine that as we get closer to the Savior's second coming, that's more of the storm that's going to.
- 30:01The peace that we're going to find is not on the outside as the world continues to get crazier, right?
- 30:07But it's, it is, he is inviting us peace be still on the inside, to be able to anchor ourselves in that hope and that faith and to fear not what is coming and fear not the storms.
- 30:19Recognize he's standing with us in the storm and that through our faith and our hope in him and our focus on him, we can hold that peace inside.
- 30:30And we can, we can be still and know that he is God and that we can move forward in the storms with him as our companion in it.
- 30:39Oh yeah, one more thing on my side when you just said that in 41, they became much afraid and said to one another who is this?
- 30:48So, so it was, you know, when sometimes God does quiet the storm and then, and then causes us to have that stillness and that peace, but sometimes the storm rages even more.
- 31:00And I thought it was so, so I don't know, just mind boggling that Jesus replaced the disciples fear with more fear, right?
- 31:10They became exceedingly or, or some translations say terrified, right?
- 31:17Like he replaced fear with more fear.
- 31:21Did you see that?
- 31:22Like in verse 41, like he replaces their fear with more fear.
- 31:26So they don't have that stillness yet, right?
- 31:31He replaced with more fear.
- 31:32But what was that fear they now feared?
- 31:35Not the storm, but a healthy reverence of who.
- 31:40Like they now recognize the power of who's in the boat, right?
- 31:46They didn't recognize who Jesus was, that Jesus was God in that boat.
- 31:51But now they're going, who is this that can calm the seas?
- 31:57Like who now they have more fear because they recognize the reverence of the power of God in that whole calm in the sea.
- 32:12Like that's mind blowing, right?
- 32:14They go from being afraid of the storm to becoming like, oh my gosh, we have never ignored, experienced this power before and this power of God is in the boat.
- 32:28And, and I just thought that was mind boggling.
- 32:32Once you recognize that power though, once you recognize all the power that he has, it makes, it makes you more sure and steadfast, right?
- 32:41They were Disciples because they knew, they had saw, they had seen what he could do.
- 32:47And so, so when we access that power in our own lives, it makes us more connected to Him, I think, a more reverence for Him.
- 32:54And how many times do we see what he does?
- 32:57But yet we don't grasp the power of God.
- 33:00Right?
- 33:01We know who God is.
- 33:02I mean, the demons even saw what he could do, but they never grasped who he was and accepted him as Lord and Savior of their lives.
- 33:13Right.
- 33:13Like, and that's where the presence and power, I think, is.
- 33:17So, like, that's the most important thing, right, is accepting Christ into your life and, and, and knowing that the power of God now indwells in the Holy Spirit, that trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy
- 33:34Spirit.
- 33:35And, and that's where it's all at.
- 33:37Like, that's what it's all about.
- 33:40Yeah.
- 33:40Oh, I love that we can walk with him in the storms of life.
- 33:46I seriously feel like we could talk about this for the next hour, but.
- 33:49We gotta wrap it up.
- 33:50Darn it.
- 33:51So let's do, let's do some quick takeaways before we part.
- 33:58What are some takeaways that have kind of stood out to you as we have discussed Jesus as our refuge in the storm?
- 34:08Tiffany, let's start with you.
- 34:09And then we'll go to Bridget and then I'll conclude.
- 34:12For me, I just, it's just a reminder that in my storms, I need to be still.
- 34:17I need to just be still and, and trust that God's got me, you know?
- 34:22And I think that sometimes that is the hardest thing is to be cheerful in the storm and to be still and anchor ourselves in that hope that he is walking with us.
- 34:31But when we have that image, it's beautiful.
- 34:34And I think that if we focus on him, it will make, make every day just a little bit easier.
- 34:40So, yeah, that's my takeaway.
- 34:42I love that love, love, love that peace be still and be of good cheer, which is hard to do, Bridgit.
- 34:49Yeah.
- 34:50Well, expect that the storms are going to come, right?
- 34:53Because that's what scripture teaches us.
- 34:55And that debilitating fears were being replaced with the empowering fear of God.
- 35:01And they were in awe of Jesus.
- 35:03So in the middle of the storm, tap into the knowledge that Jesus, that God is all powerful, he's all knowing, he's got this right?
- 35:18He's in control.
- 35:19Stop helping him.
- 35:21Like, right.
- 35:23Anybody else do that?
- 35:25Stop helping him.
- 35:27Stop trying to, to control it or to, to, to manage our storms in our own power, you know?
- 35:38Recognize that God is all powerful in in in Jesus and and just be in awe of him and and his great power and replace those debilitating fears with with the empowering fear of who God is and his presence
- 35:57in your life.
- 35:58Oh.
- 35:59Replace that fear with the empowering fear of who God is and what he can do.
- 36:05Oh.
- 36:05I think my takeaway today is just if you're in that fourth watch of the storm and you feel like you're at your wit's end, don't give up hope.
- 36:16Answers and maybe some of the biggest lessons come when we have battled for so long that we feel like giving up hope.
- 36:24Up and pray for those angels to be with you.
- 36:27Invite them in to your storm because they can also help.
- 36:33All right, guys, thank you so much for joining us today.
- 36:37I hope that this has been a blessing to you that something we have said will help you in your storm.
- 36:45Remember, keep your focus on the Savior.
- 36:48Cling to him and trust him and you'll make it through to the other side.
- 36:54God bless.
- 36:57Thanks for tuning in to Bible Women and Bathrobes, hosted by Women warriors of Light.
- 37:03We've loved exploring the stories of remarkable women or the teachings of the Savior today with you.
- 37:10If today's episode brought someone special to mind, be sure to spread the word and don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss a moment of inspiration and sisterhood.
- 37:22Just a friendly reminder.
- 37:23All opinions we share are entirely personal as we are trying to decipher and apply Bible teachings just like you are.
- 37:31Until next time, stay faithful and may your journey be blessed and illuminated by God's love.