Early Monday morning Grand Rapids was hit by a terrible storm. My family told me that, at one point, the storm was so intense that thunder shook the house. “Why did your family have to tell you this?” I hear someone asking. Well, they had to tell me this because I slept through the whole thing. I sleep so hard that, when my oldest was about two or three years old, my wife had him sit on my head and bounce up and down to try and wake me. I never woke up. I don’t want to even imagine the other things she’s done and does to me while I sleep. Lol!  My name is Marvin, and I am a hard sleeper. I would imagine if you are anything like me, there are times you feel like Jesus is a hard sleeper, too. I mean: 

Storms shake the house  
Waves overwhelm us 
We’re alone in the middle of the lake,
We’re groping through the darkest point of the night,
We’re straining as we attempt to make appreciable progress. 
There feels like great distance between us and Jesus 
Even if he does come, it looks like he’s blessing everyone else, and it feels like he’s going to pass by us.  

And we call on Jesus and call on Jesus and call on Jesus, and there is no answer. Like the disciples in Luke 8:22-25, sometimes we feel like Jesus is a hard sleeper, totally unaware of the relational, financial, emotional, and spiritual terrorists that stalk and terrorize our lives. 

I want to assure you that he is not a hard sleeper. He is fully aware and fully present. He sees us when we don’t see him, He comes to us when we can’t get to him, and he speaks to us when we can’t speak to him. This is what he says to us:

Take courage!

It is I.

Don’t be afraid.

When have you felt like Jesus was a hard sleeper and was unaware of your storms? How did you respond? What was the hardest part about trusting him in the middle of the storm?

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Several years ago Hollywood released a film called the Perfect Storm. It was high impact drama, with a lot of deep waters and dark nights. The interesting thing about this blockbuster was that Hollywood spent an enormous amount of money on a film with no survivors. How sad! I imagine some of you feel like you are going through your own deep waters and dark nights right now. Many more of you feel like your entire life has been one deep water and dark night experience, and you wonder if you will survive. I want to encourage you today. You can survive your deep waters and dark nights by remembering a few lessons that God is teaching me. When I am going through my deep waters and dark nights I have to remember:

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