Our Stillness in the Storms

During a trip to Cancun with my husband and son, a family from our church vacationing in a nearby hotel invited us to join them on a fishing trip. Early on the morning of our scheduled trip, the captain postponed our departure by two hours. An hour later, we received another hour-long delay. Disappointed, frustrated, and a bit anxious about the intensity of the wind, I wanted to cancel. However, my husband insisted that the captain would never let us leave the docks if the water wasn’t safe.

When we finally reached our friends’ hotel and no one shared my concerns, I shook off a wave of uneasiness and prayed. I was the only one in our party who spoke Spanish, so I asked our driver if he was sure the weather was safe enough for a fishing trip. He smiled and assured me that everything was fine. As I entered the shabby vehicle, I forced myself to smile and asked God to improve my attitude. I knew my displeasure would be easily detected through my facial expressions.

Taking Turns for the Worse

We drove past one fancy hotel after another, passed the marina, and entered an impoverished residential area. The longer we drove, one turn after another, the more disappointed and worried I became. As the shuttle bounced along the bumpy road, I closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths, and prayed. Without warning, the driver pulled over and parked on the side of the road. A man stepped out of a shiny black sedan, welcomed us, and collected our money. After tucking a few bills into the shuttle driver’s hand, he stuffed a sizable portion of our cash into his pocket and led us down a slight slope toward the water. He told us the shuttle would be waiting when we returned then passed us and the rest of our money to the captain. I swallowed my displeasure and prayed as I stepped onto the first loose, splintery board of the makeshift dock.

I greeted the captain in Spanish. As I asked if the weather was safe enough for a fishing trip, the warm wind blew my hat off my head. The captain caught my hat and flashed a smile with no front teeth. He assured me that everything would be fine and motioned for us to step into the boat. I sat on a hard wooden bench attached to the front of the cabin and leaned against a metal pole. This was not the trip I had expected. Watching my family and friends getting more excited about fishing, I asked God to change my negative attitude. Within minutes, we left the semi-safety of the dilapidated dock far behind us.

Searching for Hope in the Horizon

Our boat rode the waves up-and-down, up-and-down. I hugged the pole and scrunched my nose as I inhaled the stench of diesel fuel. The swells rose higher and fell lower, flowed faster then slower. Our vessel bobbed up-and-down, up-and-down. Just as I told my teenage son to put on a life jacket, an unexpected wave lifted the front of our boat off the water. When the hull slammed onto the surface of the ocean, I bounced off the bench. My bottom hit the dirty deck hard. The captain helped me up, told me to hold on, then offered me a lukewarm bottle of water from the ice chest that, with no ice, held our ant-covered sack lunches. The bags did not contain the described meal we had signed up to receive on the leisure fishing trip we had paid to enjoy. I prayed harder.

Pointing to the water, the captain told me to keep my eyes on the horizon. I tried. Then I cried as I released my breakfast over the side of the boat.

Curled up on the bench inside the cabin, I begged God to stop the swells. Everyone in our party got sick at least once. Temples throbbing, I prayed silent rants of frustration over God’s unwillingness to come to our aid. I asked the captain to please take us home. Finally, after my stomach had nothing left to offer the ocean, our boat returned to shore.

Seeking God in the Wake

The shuttle driver met us at the rickety dock. He asked for another unexpected fee after helping everyone onto the vehicle. Feeling too sick to argue and with no other options to get us back to our hotel, I handed him the last of my cash. I waved goodbye to our friends and vowed to never to let anyone handle reservations for us again.

My husband and son felt better sooner than I did. While they swam in the pool, I sat on the balcony and asked God to calm my shaken spirit. As a gentle breeze brushed across my face, I admired the ocean from a safe distance and thanked God for protecting us. Focusing on the horizon, like living with an eternal perspective, was so much easier when I wasn’t riding rogue waves up-and-down, up-and-down.

Finding Safe Harbor

In the Bible, God’s people often faced disappointment, discouragement, and even despair. Though they didn’t have access to the full written Scriptures like we do, God did not leave His people to fend for themselves. The psalmist David affirms that we can catch glimpses of enduring hope in the horizon. He wrote: “The heavens proclaim the glory of God; the skies display his craftsmanship” (Psalm 19:1 NLT). The world God made, controls, and sustains assures us of His power and majesty. By acknowledging the mere existence of all God created, we can declare His control over all things (vv. 2-4). We can count on God’s perfect and unchanging Word to refresh our soul because the “statutes of the LORD are trustworthy” (v. 7). 

David said the “commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes” (v. 8 NIV). God’s commands clear our vision. When we’re tossed around by life’s circumstances, we’ll discover that the God-breathed words of Scripture “are more precious than gold” and “sweeter than honey from the honeycomb” (v. 10). God’s words are the only unerring and unchanging truth that has proven to last. His decrees provide boundaries which free us from becoming slaves to our sins, and enduring hope that prevents us from being controlled by our ever-shifting emotions. In “keeping them there is great reward” (v. 11). We can depend on the promises God makes to remain secured in His immutable character—our safe harbor—even and especially when we’re bobbing up-and-down, up-and-down on waves of uncertainty or disappointment.

Secured in Our Everlasting Hope

In this world, the currents of disappointment will try to pull us under. We will bob up-and-down, up-and-down emotionally as we experience swells of sorrow, regret, and dismay that rise high and fall low. Even then, our immutable Creator and Sustainer anchors us to truth we can inhale with confidence. As we exhale proclamations of His promises with jubilant faith, we can sing: “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (v. 14). 

Whether the waters of our lives are calm or chaotic, our hope in the horizon is Jesus. He “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). We can ride every wave with buoyant faith, secured in our everlasting hope –Jesus—because He is our stillness in the storms.

—Written by Xochitl Dixon. Used by permission from the author.