God has not left us. It feels like it, but He hasn’t.

I’m afraid of the ocean or any body of water. All of my summers in Alaska were spent catching fish in a net. We would set our net out on the beach, then the tide would come up and we would catch fish. After the tide went out, we would go pick the net of all its fish.

Sometimes we would “play” with the net. If there was a big run of fish, we would put out the net, then watch the net load up with fish, and then pull it back in. We had to quickly pick all the fish out, then put the net back out. Sometimes the tides were extremely powerful. We would pull the net in and it felt like an invisible giant was pulling the net away from us. It would take seven to 10 people to pull the net in. The rope would shake against the power of the water pulling it away from us. We would struggle so hard against the invisible giant. I remember seeing my hands snow white from gripping the rope so hard. Yet you couldn’t see what was pulling the rope. It was just water. But that’s what scares me about water. It’s this powerful force that you cannot see or touch.

The disciples struggled against the water. There was a big storm and they thought they were going to capsize. I can imagine the boat rocking madly against the waves. That would have terrified me. It terrified the disciples. They panicked. They didn’t know what to do. Finally, they cried out to Jesus, who was sleeping on the boat, to help them. They woke Him up and Jesus spoke and immediately the storm stopped. The disciples were amazed that even the winds and sea obey Him.

If feels like we are in a massive storm right now. We go from one thing to the next. We are the disciples on that boat, wondering when we’re going to die. When are we going to be flipped over by the mighty sea. But God is here. He is working. He is more powerful than the invisible force we see working right now, causing chaos. God tells us over and over in His Word to trust him. We cannot see Him or touch Him, but He is here. And believing what we cannot see or touch is an act of faith.

All believers need to call upon Him. He is listening. He is waiting. He is already working. The storm we’re in right now feels overwhelming. We all need to pray. For even the winds and seas obey Him.

I can’t look at the news without feeling anxious and sad. I look around and feel utterly helpless at the mayhem that’s going on across the nation.

So I sought out scriptures to give me comfort. This passage in Psalms has always been comforting:

“O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend: In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the Lord; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.” Psalms 15

Did you read that last line? “He who does these things will never be shaken.” Read it again, “He who does these things will never be shaken.” I love that. Here is a recipe for how not to be shaken. And it comes straight from God. It’s not some psycho babble or weak, watered down truth. This is straight up truth on how not be be shaken. I want that!

So what do we do, to never be shaken?

-walk in integrity

-work rightousness

-speak truth in your heart

-don’t slander with your tongue

-don’t do evil to your neighbor

-don’t take up a reproach against your friend

-in your mind, depise a reprobate

-fear the Lord

-swear to your own hurt, but don’t change

-don’t put out your money for interest

-don’t take a bribe

There you go. Ten rules to follow so that you are never shaken.

Not only will you not be shaken, but did you see the first two sentences in that passage? “Who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell in your holy hill? What are those verses asking? They’re asking God who may be near Him. Wouldn’t you feel peace and joy, being next to God? Wouldn’t that be the absolutely beautiful place to be? To abide in His tent or to dwell in His holy hill. That would be glorious.

So again, we must follow the 10 rules above. Following these rules gives one a ticket to God’s tent and His holy hill. Following these rules, and we’ll never be shaken.

I want that. I need that. I plan to do just that. You can do the same, so that you’ll never be shaken.

Our country seems to have run off the rails. Cities are burning. People are rioting. We’re still under lockdown. We seem to have lost our ever-loving minds.

Even though it seems like the world is ending, God is still on the throne. He hasn’t turned a blind eye to everything that’s going on. He is still here. We just need to call on Him.

James 4:2 “…You do not have because you do not ask.”

Last night my brother-in-law was called to the mall where he works as a head of security. He took my 6′ 6″ nephew to help him. The police department where they live said there was word on the street that rioting and looting was going to take place at the mall. Five police cars were already there, when my brother-in-law arrived. The mall was locked down, but that didn’t mean anything. We’ve seen in other cities the major damage caused by the rioters. Businesses were burning and stores were looted.

My sister called me and asked me to pray. She called my mom to do the same. We began to pray in earnest for protection. Protection for the police department. Protection for my brother-in-law and nephew. I prayed that God would intervene and prevent the rioters from destroying the mall. I asked Him to send his angels to stand in front of the mall to guard it. I didn’t know my sister and mom were praying for the exact same thing.

It began. About 9 p.m., a car drove up to the mall. They were several people in the car. They drove up and stopped. They looked around, but no one got out of the car. Another car drove up with more people in their car. No one got out of that car either. After about 10 minutes, the cars drove away. It was as if they were afraid to get out of the car.

This continued until 1:00 a.m. Cars would drive up to the mall with a load of people. They would stop, but no one would get out of their cars. After a few minutes, they drove away.

The enemy didn’t win last night. No one rioted or looted the mall. God intervened. The cops were there, but that hasn’t stopped rioters in other cities. In fact, some cops have been injured. I like to think those cars that drove up were stopped by Almighty God. Whether they saw a band of angels standing before the mall or just heard a voice to not go in. Either way, God was there. He stopped them.

God answers prayers. He asks us to pray. Pray for everything. Pray for the big things, Pray for the little things. Right now, all believers need to pray. We are helpless against the governors and mayors who seem to make decisions based on a power grab rather than actual data. We stand helpless, while we see cities burn, on the news. There seems to be nothing we can do.

But there is something we can do. We can petition the Creator of the world. We can ask the One, who even the winds and seas obey Him to help us. We can cry out to Him. We need to cry out to Him. We need to ask for His help. And He will intervene. He always does.

I am not a wine drinker. But I know a few things. It seems to be the older, the better the wine. We’re talking years for wine. The value of the wine goes up with its age. I’ve heard people will pay thousands of dollars for old wine.

I’ve been thinking a lot about God’s character lately. I’ve thought of the story, when Jesus turns the water into wine. You know the story. Jesus is at a wedding. The custom of that day was to serve the good wine first. Then, when people have drunk up the good wine and they’re not so picky now, they break out the poor wine. People won’t know the difference now that they have had a few drinks.

Well they run out of wine and Jesus’ mother tells him to fix the problem. When He does, He tells the servants to fill the nearby water jugs with water. They have a taste of the water and realize this is really good wine. I mean this is the good stuff. They even confront the groom and tell him that most people serve the good wine first, but he’s breaking protocol by serving the good wine last. Of course it’s good wine because Jesus made it. He turned the water into wine. He didn’t take years and years to create a fantastic bottle of wine. He simply had the servants fill up some water jugs with water.

Jesus turned water into wine. He takes a minor problem and fixes it with something beautiful. He didn’t have to. He could have just ignored the problem and told them they already had wine, they don’t need anymore. He could have given them a lecture on the evils of drinking and drinking too much. But He didn’t. He turned water into wine.

In our own lives there are so many moments that we have run out of wine. We need more. It’s not catastrophic, but it is a need. What is that need you have in your own life? What have you run out of? Do you need Jesus to come in and make wine out of water? Are you thinking your problem is insignificant and Jesus doesn’t have the time?

Jesus turned the water into wine at a wedding who already had wine, they just ran out. If Jesus would turned water into wine, how much more can He turn your situation around. He will. He considers all of our needs. Every single one of them. The big ones and the small ones. And when we ask, He answers. He’s capable of taking whatever that need is and turning into something wonderful. He doesn’t have too much to do. He doesn’t think you are unimportant. He is willing. We just need to ask.

In this insane time I have been praying for encouragement. And like the water into wine, God is willing to give it. He gives me words from a friend that lift me up or make me laugh. He gives me birds who fly in front of me to remind me how much God cares. He gives me hope.

So what is your need? What have you run out of? Ask God. He’ll give it. And it will be good.

I don’t know about you, but this lockdown is making me crazy. I can’t stand it. Especially when I hear the numbers. Here in California, there isn’t an emergency. We have 40 million people here and a total of about 2000 deaths. That percentage is about .000 something. We’ve shut down our entire state for what reason?

I don’t like it when things are unreasonable and irrational. If we actually had a crisis here, then yes, shut down. But we don’t and that is soooo frustrating.

The only thing that keeps me from screaming is when I focus on the Lord. The Lord is fully aware of what’s going on. I know I’m not the only one praying this shutdown ends.

Me: “Lord I can’t take it anymore. I’m about to lose my mind.

Lord: “I’m here. Be still and know that I Am God.”

Me: “But Lord…I…

Lord: “I’m here. I haven’t gone away.

Me: “But…

Lord: “I love you. I take care of my children.”

Me: “But it’s…

Lord: “I know. This too shall pass.”

Me: deep breath. “This too shall pass?”

Lord: “This too shall pass.”

Me: soft tears. “Thank you.”

Lord: “I love you.”

I need to remind myself that God loves me and hasn’t forgotten me. God is bigger than this whole shutdown mess. He knows my frustration. He knows your frustration. And this too shall pass. If God cares about parking spaces, then you can guarantee He cares about His children when they suffer. He’s heard all of our prayers. He’s placed each of those prayers into golden bowls. He will intervene and end this madness, one way or another.

This too shall pass.