I have to wonder what I was thinking when I entitled this morning’s sermon A Time To Nap?  Trust I did not intend it to be an invitation to snooze.

I used to love playing a game with my boys when they were little.  I would pretend that I was sleeping and they would try and wake me. They would begin by calling, “Dad.”  If I didn't open my eyes the volume of their cry would increase.  If that didn’t work they would shake me.  The longer I pretended I was a sleep they would shake me even harder and finally resort to jumping on me.  It was then that I would embrace them and tumble to the floor with them.

Does that sound like something you have done with God?  When you find yourself in the midst of one of life’s storms and you want to get God’s attention.  The longer the storm persists the louder our cry is.  The increased severity of the storm even gives way to thoughts that God is sleeping on the job.  We try to wake Him with prayers, shouts, and even accusation such as, “Do you care?”

This is what the disciples did when a storm on the Sea of Galilee began to swamp their boat.  They woke Jesus saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

Although the disciples had witnessed many miracles, they panicked in this storm.  As experienced sailors they knew its danger.  What they did not know was that Christ could control the forces of nature.

There are often stormy areas in life that cause us to question God’s ability.  It is at these times that our persistent prayers become naggings. Our nagging of God is the same reason wives nag husbands. Bear with me of this thought.  Why do wives nag husbands?  They nag because they have no confidence in their husband that they will do what they asked the first time.  In truth if they trusted their husband to do what they were asked AND if the husbands did do what they were asked the first time there would be no need for nagging.

If you are persistent in prayer because you think or feel that God can’t work or won’t work in your storm then you are nagging God.

When we truly understand who God is we will realize that God controls both the storms of nature and the storms of the troubled heart.  Jesus’ power that calmed this storm can also help us deal with the problems we face.  Jesus is willing to help if we only ask Him.  We should never discount His power even in terrible trials.

In the midst of the storms of life, we have two choices. We can become angry with God and alienate ourselves from Him, who in truth is the only source of help or we can bow to the mystery of God and follow Him as Lord.

We tend to forget in the midst of our storms, that Jesus is Lord or Lord and King of Kings.  There is nothing that He is not Lord over, so we don’t need to panic.  When the storms of life rain down on us it is time to take a nap.

To do this you have to have an abiding relationship with God.  Believing in God is not enough.  Allow me to give you a few illustrations by what I mean by an abiding relationship with God.

Have you ever been on a roller coaster?  What is the last thing the attendant does before the cars start moving forward.  They check the safety bar.  Would you dare to go on a roller coaster if the cars did not have a safety bar?  Of course not!

Does the safety bar take away the twists and turns and rises and drops? Of course not!

The safety bar gives you a sense of confidence that no matter how many times the car twists and turns and rises and falls you will remain safely in the car.  An abiding relationship in God should give you the same kind of confidence when confronted with life’s storms.

An abiding relationship with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is like a blend-in from Thomas Sweets.

Has anyone ever been to Thomas Sweets in New Brunswick?  It is an awesome ice cream store where you pick the flavor of ice cream you want.  Then you pick from an assortment of candies like Kit Kat, M&M, Oreo Cookies and they put the ice cream and the candy through a blending machine.  What you eat is this blend of both ice cream and candy unable to separate the one from the other.

This is how you and I should be with God. Our lives should be so integrated with God’s will and nature that you are unable to differentiate between your will and God’s will.  This integration of God’s strength, compassion, grace, forgiveness, shapes you nature so that you constantly abide, know, trust and rest in the knowledge and love of God.

To have such a relationship means that storm time is naptime.  It is time to remember that our Lord is Lord of your storm.

If you want such confidence in God when storms come, you can’t wait until you are in the storm to receive.  Jesus was in the boat with the disciples long before the storm came.  Jesus needs to be in your life before the your next storm.

If you haven’t already, then invite Jesus into your heart.

If you have been lax in building a relationship with God, there is no better time than the present.

If you have a good personal relationship with God, don’t stop working at it.

Day by day spend time with God and His Word.  Don’t let another day pass you by.  You will never know when the next storm will come.