Calming the Storm Within You

       "Devotions" Without "Devotion" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Some of us have had devotions, but we have not had devotion. There's a big difference. We may have gone through the motions of reading our Bibles and "saying our prayers" but we have not been cultivating a love relationship with our God. We know alot about Him, but we don't really know Him. 

We are active and busy in a multitude of spiritual activities, but we have lost perspective of who it is that we are serving and why.

The result of our "devotionless" religion is seen in the way we respond to pressure. So many of us as Christian women are chronically stressed out. Everywhere I go, I see it in the eyes of women; I hear it in their voices; and too often I see it when I look in my own mirror. I know what it is to have demands coming at me from every direction. I know what it is to respond of weariness, with an impatient, demanding spirit.

And I know what it is to contend with God Himself, even as my eyes fill up with tears of frustration with myself and my reactions.

I also know that there is only one place where that angry, reactive, overwhelmed self can be transformed---the same place that Mary chose--the feet of Jesus.  I must take a conscious, deliberate, daily choice to sit at His feet, to listen to His Word, to receive His love, to let Him change me, and to pour out my heart's devotion to Him.

When I get into His presence, the whole world looks different. When I draw close to His heart, I find mercy when I know I deserve judgment; I find forgiveness for all my petty, selfish ways;  I find grace for all my inadequacies; I find peace for my troubled heart; I find perspective for my distorted views.

In Him, I find an eye in the midst of the storm.  

Oh, the storm around me may not immediately subside;


but the storm within me is made calm.