Information Related to "Calming the Waters"
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After
my first year of college, three friends and I took a weeklong canoe
trip in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota, bordering Canada's
Ontario province. I can still picture the scene as we drove into the
parking lot of the outfitter where we arranged to rent the canoes at
the start of our adventure, loaded our canoes and paddled out into the
first stretch of water.
Over the next seven days we saw many types of water—narrow streams,
wide calm lakes, rapids full of turbulent water and occasionally lakes
with waves stirred up by the wind.
One of the hardest parts of the trip was the time we seemed to be fighting against the wind all day. The water was rough, and we had to be careful not to tip over or allow the waves to splash over the sides of the canoes while struggling against the wind. How wonderful it would have been to have had the power Jesus Christ did when He calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41)!
Sadly, human relationships can be similar to a lake—calm and smooth as glass one day, then turbulent the next. Something happens to upset things, whether it's a slip of the tongue, a wrong action or some other mistake that stirs up hard feelings. The waters churn and it's "tough going" in the relationship. Often one person gets hurt or angry and the other person feels the brunt of the first one's wrath—justified or not. Proverbs 18:19 says that a friend who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city.
It's not an impossible task—but it can be a daunting one.
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Table of Contents that includes "Calming the Waters"
Other Articles by Ken Treybig
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