SAMANTHA ELLEY writes about how, even as her life turned upside-down thanks to floods, she’s felt assured “Jesus is taking every muddy step with us”…
Northern Rivers, New South Wales, Australia
‘Jesus calms a storm on the sea’ in a painting on a church altar. PICTURE: ZvonimirAtleti/IStockphoto.
“I have said these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
For those who have been reading my recent columns, you will know that the life of my family has been anything but peaceful since 28th February this year, when we were evacuated from our home to escape the catastrophic floods of northern New South Wales in Australia.
Since then, we have had another flood. Actually, it was the one we expected as it only went into the ground floor of our house by a metre, as opposed to the first flood that reached the first floor by a metre. Unfortunately, or fortunately, there was nothing left to lift up or save as anything salvaged from the first flood had been moved to be stored at family and friends’ places.
“Jesus is in our boat. It is Him we have depended on when we needed to know our next steps. Our accommodation was provided by lovely church family members, who themselves lost their business during the catastrophe. Our income wasn’t interrupted and we have been provided clothes, cash donations, food and support from our wonderful community and family and friends from afar.”
The house remains gutted and open to the elements as we wait for our insurance to kick in. Meanwhile, more chaos reigns as my son tested positive for COVID-19 on the morning we had planned to leave for Sydney to celebrate my father’s 80th birthday party. Not the most welcome news, I can tell you. My husband has since tested positive and I am waiting for when I go down.
And yet, while life is not peaceful, we can’t help but hold on to the promises of Jesus that we will have peace. He promised and I have been given reasons every day to believe Him.
I recently saw a post on Facebook that a friend had put up that went like this: “Peace doesn’t come from finding a lake with no storms. It comes from having Jesus in the boat”.
Jesus is in our boat. It is Him we have depended on when we needed to know our next steps. Our accommodation was provided by lovely church family members, who themselves lost their business during the catastrophe. Our income wasn’t interrupted and we have been provided clothes, cash donations, food and support from our wonderful community and family and friends from afar.
And while this Easter, as we cleaned through the mud and rubbish to get our house ready to rebuild, we were still thankful and found peace in His greatest gift of salvation through His death and resurrection. We’ve had moments of frustration and sadness, especially when we looked around at our little village and saw the empty houses, piles of rubbish and smell the after effects of the flood. But as we take each step nearer to getting back home, I feel assured Jesus is taking every muddy step with us.
There is no guarantee there won’t be more floods, but there is a guarantee Jesus will face the storms and chaos with us, just like He did with the apostles in their famous boat ride. And that is the peace we are striving for.
