I bow in my grief today.

The depths of my sad heart are troubled.

Oh, waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish

Sweep o’er my sinking soul,

And I perish! I perish! dear Master.

Oh, hasten and take control!

-Mary Ann Baker, “Master, the Tempest is Raging”, verse 2

Anguish. Grief. A sinking soul that is ready to perish.

We aren’t literally on a sinking ship.

But boy, can our lives feel like that from time to time.

“Carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38)

How could Jesus not care about our situation?!

How could He sit by and watch this painful situation unfold?

How could He not step in when I’m drowning, and there is no way out?

Why is the storm even allowed to brew?

Well…

Jesus knows the storm won’t actually destroy us.

Jesus knows we will be okay.

Jesus knows that maybe we even need the storm.

In His infinite compassion, He also understands that storms can hurt and wear us down and scare us.

And yet He invites us to use our faith to trust that it really will all be okay in the end.

He sees our panic and He invites us to replace it with peace.

“Peace, be still.” (Mark 4:39)

The tempest will end.

Panic yields no good fruits.

And Jesus invites us to find peace with Him.

Master, the terror is over.

The elements sweetly rest.

Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,

And heaven’s within my breast.

Linger, O blessed Redeemer!

Leave me alone no more,

And with joy I shall make the blest harbor

And rest on the blissful shore.

-Mary Ann Baker, “Master, the Tempest is Raging”, verse 3

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Peace, be still first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

But not every monsoon is exactly the same.

If you’ve never experienced a monsoon in the desert, it’s always a surprise what kind of storm you will get!

Sometimes the monsoon starts with a big dust storm, lowering visibility and covering everything with a thin layer of dirt.

Other times, the wind is intense, uprooting trees and flipping trampolines. (Ask me how we know that!)

And other times, the rain seems never-ending, flooding parks and creating rivers down streets.

Now let’s talk about spiritual monsoons.

In our spiritual lives, we know storms are unavoidable.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that the rain will come, the floods will rise, and the wind will blow, no matter what.

But just like monsoons each come with their own unique signature, our trials each have their own flair as well.

Sometimes, we’ll have more rain where trials keep pouring in.

Other times, the wind will blow, making it hard to stay focused on the gospel.

And other times, the flood waters rise, almost suffocating us with competing priorities.

Sometimes we have bigger and scarier intense storms that pass in a flash.

Other times we have storms that brew for a long time.

But we all have them! ⁣

The difference, of course, is Christ. ⁣

“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” (Matthew 7:25)

We can go through hard things with Him or without Him.

We don’t need to lose faith just because the storm comes; He said it would.

But Jesus will love us and help us grow through it.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Different monsoons  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

And Jonah needed both of them.

He needed the storm to humble him.

And he needed the great fish to save him.

“The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.” (Jonah 1:17)

And God provides both.

He provides everything that we need to become good, godly, Christlike people.

The calls to go and do good things.

The humbling moments when our pride has gotten in the way.

The mercy to save us in our own self-inflicted trials.

The opportunity to reflect and repent.

The call to again, go and do good things.

The teaching.

The love.

The safety.

He does it all.

He is so good.

Because I need it all, just like Jonah.

That all-encompassing divine teacher who changes my curriculum to be exactly what I need in exactly that moment.

I am grateful for a God who does it all.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The storm and the whale first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Crazy winds and constant lightning. Sheets of rain pouring down.

I, of course, immediately started to pray.

“Please let this storm be short. Let it be over quickly.”

But the storm kept coming.

“Please keep the lightning away.”

The strikes seemed to come even closer.

“Please stop the roads from flooding.”

All the cars moved to the center lane as water pooled on the edges of the road.

“Should I just stop and pull over?”

Immediate doubts filled my mind. That wouldn’t be the right option for me right then.

I took a deep breath.

“Please be with me in the storm. Help me to make good decisions. Help the cars around me. Calm my heart and my mind.”

My mind was alert and racing as I drove the rest of the way home, but calm filled my heart.

The storm wasn’t going anywhere, but I was going to be okay. I would make it home.

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through fire, thou shalt not be burned”. (Isaiah 43:2)

The Lord doesn’t take away those disasters that are coming our way.

The floods still come.

The fire is still there!

But the Lord stays with us during the trial.

He makes the consequences sting just a little less.

He comforts us.

Isn’t that a great lesson to remember?

The Lord doesn’t always take away our hard times– He walks through them with us.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post The floods and fire first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.