Seek in the storm

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”Seek first the Kingdom of God” Matthew 6:33

Seek: (verb) to go in search of, to look for, to try to discover.  Seek is an action verb.  

“I am going forward through life amidst rainbows and storms, but with my head held high with pride, for I am a royal child. I feel that the blood of Jesus is circulating in my veins, and I have put my trust in the great mercy of the Lord.” Divine Mercy in my soul # 992

It can be most difficult to seek the Lord in difficult times. When the storm is raging, the soul can only think about seeking shelter and hopefully riding out the storm. Many souls run to worldly shelters. This is not God’s desire. God doesn’t want the soul to hide from Him during the storm. He desires the soul to seek shelter in Him.

“A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.  And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”  And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.” Matthew 8:23-26

Matthew, Mark and Luke tell of this story. The storm was overcoming the boat. These men were fishermen, accustomed to being on the sea. They fought against the storm until it was threatening to swamp their boat before they turned and woke Jesus. Jesus immediately rebuked the storm and it calmed. He also rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith.

I don’t know why Jesus rebuked them but I know many times I’ve been in a storm situation and can understand Jesus rebuking me. Not because I lacked faith to stop the storm myself, that is ludicrous in most of the storms. No, He would rebuke me for not turning to Him right away, as soon as I saw the storm brewing on the horizon.

Jesus asks us to trust Him in all situations, good and bad. And, in that trust, to come to Him immediately. He doesn’t want us to try to get through it alone, even if we can. I see Jesus, the omniscient God, laying awake in the back of the boat, waiting for the disciples to call upon His aid.

Seek God first. God first in everything. Never wait until you are nearly swamped and overcome. Timing is key. Jesus can settle the storm at any point, like He did in the late moments of the Gospel stories. The need for early reaction is critical to the faith and trust of the soul. The more the soul trusts to turn to God first and foremost, the more the soul will grow in trust of God as He answers the call to calm the storm.