He leads me beside the still waters...

We had a stormy week on the west coast with high winds and high tides wreaking havoc in many places. There was major flooding in some communities on Vancouver Island - prompting the government to impose a state of emergency in at least one community - and there were lots of power outages as trees were blown down. Logs littered the beaches in many areas as log booms were broken up strewn every which way by the waves.

While visiting my son (the photographer who took the photo above) and grandson on the northern Sunshine Coast last weekend, I spent the nights in a warm cozy bed in the loft in my son's beachfront cabin. The ceiling was just a few feet above me and it curved around the bed like a cocoon. It was awesome to listen to the sounds of the surf as great waves were hurled against the shore, and of the wind as it whipped through the trees and pushed against the walls of the cabin. One night I lay there trying to imagine what it must be like for the birds and the squirrels who live in the trees that were being tossed and shaken by the winds just a few feet from my bed. I felt so grateful that I could rest safe and warm and secure in my bed inside the loft - so secure that I was able to peacefully drift off to sleep while the tempest raged all around me.

I realized that this was a perfect illustration of what it means to be "in Christ". Though storms rage and terror reigns (H1N1 is the current scare) and the forces of death and destruction wreak havoc in the world all around us, in Christ we are safe and protected; cocooned in a peace that allows us to lay down our heads and sleep - secure in the knowledge that we live and move and have our being in the One through whom all things were created. We can rest in the Saviour, the Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who has all authority in heaven and here on earth. This realization gave me great comfort and it has continued to help me to enter into the rest of God whenever the tempest that rages around me threatens to overwhelm me. He is my fortress, my God in whom I trust.

Thank You Lord for Your love, Your peace, and Your protection. Help me to remain in Your love always.