What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day?
What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me?
Welcome back to season 6 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In our next few moments together, we hope to learn some of the most important lessons from some of the simplest things in life. Thank you for taking this journey with me.
It has been quite the week here in Danville with our church family, with a special event nearly every night of the week. On Tuesday, we had our weekly youth study led by our young summer intern who has been doing a fantastic job. Then starting on Wednesday, our yearly Vacation Bible School started here in Danville each night of the rest of the week! This year has been very special, with a lineup of our current and past interns coming as special speakers. It was not only a homecoming for them, but also quite encouraging for us to see these young men’s growth and dedication to the Lord.
We got home late and finally got the kids down right around 10 pm, which makes the 4th night in a row. In other words, all of us were exhausted. I stretched out on the couch after tucking them in with my wife, resting my eyes and just taking a moment to unwind and breathe for a moment. When suddenly a massive flash occurred outside of the front window, followed by bellowing thunder that shook the house. I smiled. I have always loved thunderstorms, and nothing could have make this quiet and somber moment more perfect that the sound of the rain beating on the top of our house with thunder rolling in the distance. It was great until it was also accompanied by the sound of my son crying in his room. Bless his heart – he has always been afraid of thunder and lightning. Within just a moment, he was out of bed and scurrying down the hallway to come see me. “I’m scared Dad,” he mumbled under his breath. I motioned him to come here, and picking him up I carried him over to the front window.
“I want you to watch son,” I told him, “Watch how the whole sky will light up when the lightning flashes, and suddenly you’ll be able to see everything.” It did, and I saw the slightest grin stretch across his face as he looked on. “Okay now, let’s count and see if we can guess when the thunder will come.” We started counting up, and as the thunder boomed the grin quickly left his face. It wasn’t so much the lightning that scared him, but the loud and powerful thunder that made him afraid. We watched for a few more minutes before I went and tucked him back into bed. “You don’t have to be afraid son,” I told him, “Do you want to know why? Because God is the one behind the storm. It reminds us of his power, his might, and his majesty. And he’s not a powerful being that doesn’t care about us…he’s a God that loves us, and who is good. That’s why even though storms can be scary and even dangerous sometimes, you don’t have to be afraid.” I stood on the edge of his new bunk bed, stroking his hair for a few more minutes before he quickly drifted off to sleep even while the storm raged on outside of his window. He just needed his dad.
When the storms of this life rage on, all of us become like children, don’t we? We can become afraid, and in our uncertainty and our desperation, our Father wants us to come to him for help. Throughout Scripture, God calls for us as his children to take comfort in him. We read in Psalm 46:1-3, “God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its water roars and foams and the mountains quake with its turmoil.” These images portrayed in this psalm are powerful. Earth shaking, mountains toppling, waters roaring – without a doubt unbelievable displays of power that could leave any of us fearful. But sometimes our earth shaking, mountain toppling storms are something quite different in nature. It’s the loss of a child. The end of a marriage. Great financial hardship. Moments in our lives that leave us shaken to our core, and on our beds, we cry out in fear just like my son did tonight. But my friends, look again at the Psalm…it is in these moments that the Lord is our helper. The one that we can come to and take refuge and strength in.
We read again in Nahum 1:7, “The LORD is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; he cares for those who take refuge in him.” The Lord is good. He is a loving Father who cares for his children. He is not indifferent to our circumstances, to our fears, or to our cries. It is for this reason that Peter would write, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7) Is God mighty, powerful, and strong? Indeed – he is the creator and the master behind the storms that light up the night sky. But he is also good, and he cares for us. Just as a father picks up their children and comforts them, reminding them that it’s going to be okay – so the Lord does the same for us. He reminds us that we are not alone through the storms of this life, and that one day he’s going to make everything okay. To trust him, to be patient, and to endure to the end.
As I stroked my son’s hair and watched him drift off to sleep, I reminded him that I am always here if he needs me – simply to call. Immediately my mind went to perhaps some of the most encouraging words in all of Scripture. They are the last words of the gospel of Matthew, and they are a promise from Jesus. “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) My friends, no matter what we go through in this life, no matter what hardship or horrors we face, we can always find shelter in the master of the storm. Our heavenly Father loves us. The Lord is always here for us whenever we call. We don’t need to be afraid. Run the arms of your loving Father, and he will remind you again that everything, one day, is going to be okay.
This has been season 6 episode 20 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped each Friday of the week. If you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating, and tune in next week. Even more important, share the spiritual truths that we learned today with someone else. And more than anything my friends, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.
