Hamsters, Wind and Waves
In the quiet space of the cat friendly writing room, it takes no time to realize the tranquil gray room is unusually quiet. Asher the snaggle toothed traitor cat cannot be bothered to chase the energetic brown and white hamsters from his redhead’s mind. The disloyal defector is on his own outside adventure chasing fluffy tailed squirrels to the tops of tall trees.
The redhead closes her eyes and breathes in deeply only to find the brown and white hamsters in her mind have traded in their shiny silver wheels for orange puffy lifejackets. The clever hamsters realize the snaggle-toothed cat will not follow them into the ocean or even to its sandy wet edges. A sudden summer storm panics the brown and white rodents as they realize their tiny orange lifejackets are no match for the harsh storm. A strong wind gust launches the puny hamsters from the oceans edge and into the oceans deep.
The racing thoughts of the redhead begin to focus, not on storm tossed hamsters but on an account of Jesus told by his disciple *Mark. The waved tossed hamsters fled the snaggle toothed cat, and Jesus and His exhausted disciples fled from the multitude of people they had continuously ministered to.
The relaxed disciples had executed an escape and everyone breathed out calm sighs of relief. Jesus was so at peace He slept atop a soft pillow on the boat’s stern. BAM, the sound of thunder breaks through the soothing sounds of sea waves gently sloshing against the sandy shore. Immediately, howling winds blow fiercely battering the small boats. Blind panic washes over the strong men rushing to rid their rapidly filling crafts of the massive amounts of water forcibly overtaking their seaworthy boats. What roused the untroubled Jesus from His restful sleep was not the violent storm raging around Him or the soggy pillow under His head. Jesus was wakened from His slumber by grown men roughly shaking Him as they screamed hysterically into His face. Jesus, wake up and do something NOW or we are all going to die!
Unwavering of His peace, Jesus stands up and commandingly rebukes the wind and the waves. Instantly all is calm and still. With minds blown the disciples stare at the calm and unmoving sea and wonder aloud, who can this be that, even the winds and waves obey Him.
Storms-catastrophic, life altering storms aren’t always the direct result of physical circumstances. What we dwell on becomes what we believe and what we believe eventually becomes what we say and do. Dark thoughts racing through an unfocused mind can lead us to believe we are sinking, and we begin to drown ourselves in self-sabotage. Often, we realize we have the power of the Holy Spirit to rebuke all storms physically assaulting us in the name of Jesus. What we may fail to fully comprehend is that we have been given the same power through the Holy Spirit to rebuke the thoughts of our minds.
Are your thoughts tossed like soggy brown and white hamsters in an ocean storm? Do your thoughts regularly take you to the depths of dark places devoid of peace and calm? This week’s redhead challenge is this — spend some time quietly with Jesus and ask Him to show you if the thoughts racing in your mind are manifesting in physical storms robbing you of the peace that He died to give you? Ask Jesus to show you if there are things you are doing, watching, or listening to that strengthen the howling wind in the storms of your mind. Finally, pray, obey and rely on Jesus to help you do the things He speaks to you. Jesus died to give you abundant peace. Allow Him to tame the feral hamsters in your mind today!
*Matthew 4:35-41
Sarah Burnette – 7-23-22