Even though I was sitting in my living room worshiping, with just my family, the words to Bethel’s, “It Is Well” stirred my heart. “Grander earth has quaked before Moved by the sound of His voice...Through it all, through it all, My eyes are on You. ..Through it all, through it all, It is well… So let go my soul and trust in Him. The waves and wind still know His name So let go my soul and trust in Him.” How appropriate for such a time as this! We are not in control - God is - so what else is there to do than surrender and trust? And even though we are not gathered together in a building on Sunday morning we had church! While we miss being together, remember the church is not the building! God is with us wherever!
I heard from a relative and a friend, who watched online, that the music really touched their hearts. A member told me that her tears started with the first song. Isn’t it wonderful how God speaks to our heart through his Word and song? This song reminded me that our worship should not be dependent on our circumstances, but based on Who God is!
The Bethel worship leader, Kristene DiMarco said she was at a stressful time in her life looking for a place to leave. She became “so consumed with this worry that we would never find the right house, or if we put in an offer, it would be snatched away from us. I was in our backyard crying out to God, and He so clearly brought the phrase into my mind "the waves and wind still know My name, Kristene." I could almost hear God laughing, and I knew bigger fish have been fried. I remember thinking that it was so true, and God has already come through so much and in so many ways for me. He brought me an amazing husband, and He brought me to this great city of Redding, California. He's given me so much, and yet I was so worried. Sometimes worry is what gets to us the most. Jesus told us ‘do not worry.’ When He calmed the wind and the waves, He asked the disciples why they were so afraid. That's where the song came from. When I sat down to write it, I wondered how I could poetically say ‘bigger fish have been fried.’ I started by writing ‘grander earth has quaked before.’ I know that the ‘waves and wind still know His Name’ even to this day, and they still obey Him. That's the story behind writing the song.”
We can stop looking at our circumstance and begin looking at all of the things God has done in our life. We can begin to see what He is doing through this trial. Psalm 119: 37, “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way.” We know where our help comes from - we just have to look up! Psalm 121, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."
One of the many blessings I am hearing about are the people who do not go to church watching online. Many people are staying at the home of those who have church in their homes on Sunday morning. They are there and are hearing God’s Word. God is using this time. There are others who are scared and are watching online. If you do not have an online service, please join us at pvumc.net on Sunday mornings at 9:45 and 11:15. You will be uplifted and encouraged and we all need that!
Matthew 14: 29-31, “"So He said, ‘Come.' And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!' And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'" Let’s be like Peter and cry out to God! I believe God told many of us Sunday that we need to let go and trust. Then, and only then, will it be well - through it all!