Hang in there! The boat is not going to sink.

As I woke up this morning, I laid in bed for a few minutes thinking about any number of things. Bills, family, business, etc, etc..

I began to think about all I have to do today, and what would the day be like.

I felt a gentle nudge in my spirit from my heavenly Father.. "Peace, be still" WOW! I was reminded of the time where
Jesus's disciples were in the boat, and there was a storm raging all around them. Jesus was asleep in the bough of the boat and they woke Him "Save us master, we perish!!" Immagine Him wiping His eyes, looking around, then standing to His feet and saying "Peace be still!" I am sure He laid back down and went back to sleep. What this says to me is the following, we are not in control of anything except our own actions. Those disciples had no control over the weather, no control over whether the boat was going to sink or get to the other side. Think about this my friend, would Jesus have told them to get into the boat, and would He be silly enough to be sleeping had He thought the boat was not going to make it to the other side? Doesn't He know everything about us? Surely He would have known if it were dangerous to get into that boat. NO, He knew they would make it to the other side, and He knows you will make it too!

When Jesus later called Peter to step out of the boat think how Peter must have felt. You are asking me to step out of a perfectly good boat into the water? Do you want me to drown? To Peter's amazement, the very thing that he thought would kill him was under his feet. He was ABOVE his situation. My friend, you are NOT going to drown! You may have gone down twice already, and are thinking that you are going down for the third time, but you are not! Reach out and get a hold of Jesus's hand, and don't let go! He will not let you sink.

The problem is that on our course of every day life, we forget who is in charge. Ok, so the economy might be down, business may be slow, bills may be fast, but having been in business since 1983, there is just one thing I have learned that has kept me afloat, and at peace with my life and business. I am NOT in control, but He who IS in control loves me, He takes care of His children, His plans for us are only good, and not evil. Think of it this way. When you had young children (lets say babies)... they couldn't even get a bottle, couldn't go to the cubbard and grab a can of Gerber peaches.. They would have died without you there to give them every meal, change their diapers, rock them to sleep when they were afraid, hold them and comfort them when the huge world they were in overwhelmed them. How much MORE does God love you my friends? How much greater a Father is He than we could ever be? We have not fully known that He really does love us. We have not known how He wants to take care of us. He knows exactly what you need before you need it. He knows exactly what the economy is doing, and He knows exactly how this day will play out for every one of us.

Here is my laundry list that I consider during hard times, and it has never failed!

• Am I doing the thing that God has ordained for my life?
• Has He directed my life to the point it is today?
• What leading has He given me of where my life is heading?
• Would God lead me into anything that could ever fail?
• Does the path that I am on violate any of God's principles or His Word?

If you are at peace with the above questions, then pick yourself up and go about your day trusting that at the end of the day, you will be exactly where God intended you to be, and that He will take care of your needs and your family. Do not let fear drive you out of His purpose for your life. Years ago when our business had some hard times, my wife once said to me, Joe, we have to do something, this is terrible.. I reminded her that we were not in control, and that God had directed us to start this business, and if He had directed us, then He would take care of us. (He DID!).. We have never had that conversation again even though times have been up and down, yet the Goodness and Faithfulness of the Lord has NEVER changed in our lives. At the end of the day, He is ALWAYS there, and the bills are always paid, and He puts the food on our table. When we TRUST Him with our lives, then we are at peace. What Jesus wants all of us to do is rather than wake Him up when the storm comes, lets all try laying our head down on His chest and resting in the truth that we can trust Him to take care of us.

Think about the man who had a great business, had one bad month and shut his doors only to have his competitor take his idea and become the next millionare on the block. Give God full control of your life and business, then TRUST Him to take care of you and your family. Start your day believing that God loves you and that He will take care of you. Don't let your words or thoughts become negative, and you watch things get better fast!

I am not trying to say that I know everything, or that I am God's gift to the world, I am just saying that if you trust God, and do things His way it WILL always work out.

I am not here to preach to anyone, just a word of encouragement here or there, and I am happy to be fulfilling my purpose on this earth. I hope this post encourages someone, and I am trusting that if things are not great for you right now, that you will hang in there and trust God that He will take care of you. In a year or two when you think back on things, you will be amazed at how silly it is to be in fear or worry about things that are out of our control. You will also be amazed how God takes care of His children when they trust Him.

Have a wonderful day, and remember one thing.. Jesus loves you, and He will take care of you!