On Saturday June 5, our sunny day this week, I drove down Admiral Way in Edmonds.  Cars lined the street.  The ferryboat had landed.  As I drove, I looked at our beautiful Puget Sound and felt thankful that it is lovely and clean. 

I’d never thought to thank God for our waterway before.  Today I am feeling grateful that we in the Northwest have not had an oil spill disaster, as has Louisiana.  The spill was, and is, bad enough but there is still danger of further seepage into the waters and beaches of Florida’s Gulf Coast. 

With the new partial well cap, 10,000 barrels of oil daily are being saved on tankers.  Unfortunately, at the same time, 10,000 barrels of oil are still flowing daily into the Gulf of Mexico.

British Petroleum’s (B.P.) main goal now is a Relief Well to be installed in August. Though we see some improvements, it still seems a long time until a possible cure in August.
   
 WHAT ABOUT PRAYER?

Why haven’t churches had concerted “round the clock” prayer for this oil contamination in the Gulf?

We need to forgive everyone we can think of who is connected with the oil spill. Pray for the families of those who lost their lives.  Pray for loss of jobs and businesses.  Pray for environment that has been contaminated. Especially ask for divine wisdom to be bestowed on those in leadership.

GIFTS OF FAITH AND WISDOM

When I drove past the Edmonds United Methodist Church, June 6, I was given hope.  On their reader board that day, I saw these words in large print: “Pray for the Gulf Coast.” 

I thought, “Now we’re getting somewhere!”

Here we see two of God’s gifts:  Wisdom to know what to do  – pray, and Faith, to be able to pray – effectively. 

JESUS CALMS A STORM

I think of Jesus in the boat on the Sea of Galilee.  He had fallen asleep and a storm had come up - probably late in the day.  The disciples were frightened and awoke Him, as they had not learned this particular lesson from their rabbi. 

Jesus said, “Why are you fearful, Oh you of little faith? (KJV) Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and there was a great calm” (Matthew 8:26).  The disciples were astonished that the “wind and the waves obeyed Him” (vs. 27).

It was exciting when our tour boat crossed the Sea of Galilee in the spring of 1996.  We were on out way to see the Church of the Beatitudes at Capernaum.  I observed that morning the water was smooth, but it had gotten quite choppy by that afternoon – as we returned.

A WORD OF FAITH

I will tell you a present day story of faith. When my late husband, Dennis, was still here on earth, we loved to vacation in Hawaii.  One day on the island of Maui we were both having a great time playing in the ocean.  At one point, I looked up to see a small whirlwind whipping up on the far side of the cove. 

This shocked us both.  There was no time to get to shore, to save our blanket and personal property!

What to do?  I spoke a word of Faith out loud holding Dennis’s hand,  “In Jesus name, I command you whirlwind to stay away from our blanket and all our personal property.”  Within seconds, we watched as many people’s blankets, other items, umbrellas, flew through the air, but we found ours had remained untouched! 

If I had time to think of it, I could have asked protection for other’s property as well.  But then, I am a disciple who is still learning…

In recent columns, I told how I lacked depth of commitment to God until I was 26. That occurred when the Holy Spirit empowered me and gave me a greater love of His Word. I would never have prayed as I did during the challenging whirlwind, before this change happened in my life.

See you for more on gifts next week.