Stand by Me

"Christ Asleep during the Tempest," Eugene Delacroix, c. 1853.

Maybe you have heard the old joke, "I finally got a full eight hours of sleep! It took me three nights to do it, but I got it."
 
A penny for your thoughts: Was Jesus a heavy sleeper? A tabloid headline back in the day might have read: “Savior Slumbers While Storm Surges – Disciples in Disbelief and Distress.”
 
The Good Book puts it this way: “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, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ Jesus got us, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, ‘Be still’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm” (Mark 4:37-39).
 
When storms of life are raging, Jesus is our calm. When attacks of panic descend, Christ is our refuge. When anxiety wants to drown you, Jesus is the lifeline who holds us. Even when you can't hold on, Christ doesn't lose his grip. Jesus will still hold on to you. Take courage and let him who is the strength of us all be your strength too.
—Paster Tom

Lenten Prayer focus: People in the storms of life
 
“When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea,
   thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me”
          (“Stand by Me” by C.A. Tindley)