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“The Perfect Storm”
Rev. David K. Groth
Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church
A few years ago The Perfect Storm was a runaway best seller.
It’s a hair-raising account of a fishing boat’s encounter with the
storm of the century. In October,
1991, a rare combination of atmospheric events converged to create what
meteorologists called “the perfect storm.”
This storm generated hurricane force winds and waves over 100 feet
high. The book gives the reader a
sense of what if feels like to be caught helpless in the grip of a force of
nature beyond our understanding or control.
I don’t know about
you, but I don’t much like the sense of being caught in the force of
something I cannot understand or control.
Said another way, I rather enjoy the sense that I am in control, at
least over my own life. Control,
however, is an illusion. The simple
fact is: we are not in control of
very much.
A patch of ice can
send us careening quickly and dangerously out of control. The locus of control can also shift
rather suddenly from you to a disease, or to the surgeon’s calendar, or the
pathologist’s phone call. We enjoy
the illusion we are in control, but it is just that – an illusion.
There is one,
however, who has all the authority in heaven and on earth. There is one who can quiet the storm with
a few words. And the really good
news is this: he is not just
almighty. He is also gracious. “I know the plans I have for you” declares
the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope
and a future” (Jer. 29:11). His plans for us are beyond our
understanding or control, but they are good plans, for he is our Good
Shepherd. When everything is out of
control and it feels like chaos, we can trust in him. One glance at the cross reminds us that he
is trustworthy.
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