Storm in a Tea Cup

Storm in a tea cup by Chrissy Lau

One of our little one’s favourite Bible stories right now is the account of Jesus calming the storm from Mark’s Gospel. It may be the pictures of the boat bobbing on a stormy sea, or Jesus speaking and making the terror of the storm subside, I am not sure. But she delights in it. And this week so have I.
We have been discussing Mark in a weekly community gathering we have and it was this story that really hit home this week. What is your storm that comes out of nowhere and threatens to blow you away?

An unexpected illness that curbs your plans for days, poor communication that sets in motion and unfriendly silence between you and your spouse, a family crisis that calls members to travel interstate to support one another, a miserable baby that won’t settle, sudden stress in the workplace, increasing anxiety due to insufficient funds, tension between friends, disrupted family life, no sleep.

The storm comes in many guises. Sometimes we are poor at recognising it when it does come. And even more inept in recognising where our trust and hope lies – in our own strength to ‘calm the storm’, to control   it or in our God who is Sovereign over all of creation, over every dark cloud, misplaced word, lost dollar and heart ache.

PS. Chrissy Lau is new to me but her illustrations are amazing and worth an extra peek. You may have seen her work in a mag or as a part of Chinese New Year 2012 in Sydney.