Safe Harbor from the Storm

This post is dedicated to the millions of people in the path of Hurricane Irene.

The designs here are copied from some of my previous posts.
I decided it might be helpful to group them all in one place.
You are welcome to copy and paste these or share them in any other way,
if you think they’d be helpful to you or to someone else.

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I’d like to leave you with a quote from “In a Storm” by Mary Southerland:

When the fierce storms of life overwhelm us,
there is only one thing to do if we want to survive those storms.
We must position ourselves in the right place – in the hands of God –
and He will keep us there until the storm has passed.
The words of the psalmist are filled with confidence and hope when he writes,

“He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed”
(Psalm 107:29).

We really can trust God to bring peace and to reduce the fiercest storm to a mere whisper.
The faithful provision and sustaining comfort of God at work in our life
depends on the character and heart of God
and our willingness to trust Him.

If you have access to Facebook,
I think you should be able to link to the complete devotional by Southerland here.

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Thank y’all for stopping by to visit “Little Things.”
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
♦
You may not be in the path of Irene this weekend — and I DO hope you’re not –
but there will be times that all of us will find ourselves in the midst of some kind of storm.
I hope in the content of this post you may find something to encourage you
and help you to keep your faith strong
and your trust in God unwavering.
♦
My prayers continue for everyone who is in “the storm,”
whether Hurricane Irene or some other disruption in your life.
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Answer to Anxiety

worry
v.
To feel or experience concern or anxiety.

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God doesn’t just suggest that we not worry; He commands it!!

When I was a child, I learned Philippians 4:6-7 from the King James Version of the Bible.

Be careful for nothing;
but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I heard it quoted that way many times, especially in sermons, and I understood the general meaning of the two verses.

As I got older and began to experience more ‘challenging’ circumstances as a young adult, I was introduced to a new version of the Bible called The Living Bible.  It is a paraphrase, rather than a literal translation, but has been widely accepted and used by renowned theologians as an alternative way to phrase Scripture.

During one particularly troublesome time for me, I came across this passage in the more modern translation, and it almost jumped off the page at me!  Reading it in the newer form ’activated’ these verses for me — inspired me with new confidence in my faith — and has become sort of my ‘life verse’ through the past forty years.  I have quoted these words to my friends and family; my children know them by heart; and I speak them to myself almost every day!

It is spiritually impossible to pray and worry at the same time.  According to God’s Word, worry is sinful.  Sin separates us from God.  When we worry, we sin and break our fellowship with God, and He cannot hear our prayers.  As the old saying goes, ‘If you worry, why pray?  And if you pray, why worry???’

I posted the first layout of this verse as one of my earliest blog entries in July 2009.

Today I’m adding two more layouts.  Different people prefer different designs, and I hope one of these might be something you’d like to copy and save for yourself or pass along to someone else.

You are always welcome to copy or download any of the photos in my “Little Inspirations” category, for personal, non-commercial use – if you ever come across something you’d like to save for later or pass along.

If any of you have verses that are of particular significance to you, that you’d like me to incorporate into a design, please leave me a comment or get in touch with me by email if we correspond that way.  I have lots of other quotes and Bible verses that I want to post as time permits – and if you have any favorites, I’d really like to use them!  Chances are, if something is meaningful to you, then it would probably be helpful to someone else, too. 

Here are the two I want to share today: