Mrs. Priscilla Marsceau, the ninth child in a family of fourteen children, is a stay-at-home mom to two young sons, one of whom was born with a severe hearing loss.  She attended Greenville Technical College and is currently enrolled in a course pertaining to writing short stories for children.  She enjoys writing poetry, crocheting, reading, and, especially, being an aunt to over 50 nieces and nephews.  She resides in Greer, South Carolina, with her husband, Dan, who is a trooper with the state highway patrol.  They are active members of Faith Baptist Church in
Taylors, SC.

Her experiences with the challenges of their son's handicap and her tenderhearted responses to these difficulties uniquely qualify her to share the following lessons with us from Christ's miracle of calming the storm.

“I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another…

Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea…”

Isaiah 42:8a and 10a

I recently slipped into the Sunday evening service at my church. I was late and the congregation was in the middle of singing a beautiful, prayerful hymn. As I joined them and raised my voice in song, the words of the chorus touched my heart. We sang, “Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me…”

While I stood there singing, the events of the weeks and months prior began to flood my memory. I could not help but be reminded that in my heart, I had been singing a different version of that song. It went something like this:

“Lord, send me anywhere, only

Don’t send me to be a mother to a hearing impaired son because he’s too precious to have to live with that.

Don’t send me to any more doctors’ offices because they never seem to help.

Don’t send me to sit by the Interstate in a broken down car in the middle of the night with a cranky baby.

Don’t send me to any more family members with sickness or sadness in their lives because it hurts too much to see them hurt.

Don’t send me on a busy day to look for the milk bottle the baby hid-You know I won’t be able to find it until it starts smelling bad.

Don’t send me to be the wife of a police officer whose job continually requires time from him when we need him at home.

Don’t send me any more demands for ‘our’ money because You know there is not enough for us as it is.”

And my song always ended with “And, please Lord, don’t take any more of ‘my’ time because You know I am already overworked and overtired.”

I am sure you remember the Bible accounts of the “Peace, be still” miracle. (God inspired three of the gospel writers to record it, Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:36-41 and Luke 8:22-25, each from a unique vantage point.) And yes, just like His disciples, I was right there in the boat with Jesus trying to tell Him that He was not paying enough attention to the storms of my life. The places He had chosen to send me were not the places I thought He should have sent me. In my heart my faith was so small.

You see, as a young child I learned from Romans 10:13 in the Bible that “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And, as a young child I did call upon Him, the One Who has the right to be Lord of all, the only One Who can save. I asked Him to be my Savior and the Lord of my life. God says that when we do that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5b), even when the most dreaded storms come.

Because of God’s work of grace in my life-saving me and keeping me-I had no excuse to doubt His plans for my life. Still, my faith was shamefully small. As I began to ponder the story of Jesus’ calming the storm, I began to wonder what it was that Jesus’ disciples might have learned from Him in that storm. Was there something bigger and better He was about to teach them about Himself?

That question caused me to search out the three gospel accounts of this event. I read in Matthew 8:25-26 how the disciples cried out in fear and Jesus asked, “Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith?” Then I realized what it was they missed. They missed out on being delivered through the storm. Oh, it surely must have been amazing to see the winds and the sea obey Him when He said, “Peace, be still.” (Mark 4:39) But surely His disciples would have witnessed even more wonderful works, even mightier power, if they had just sat down beside Him in that boat and said, “Okay. You are in charge. We want to see what You will do in us by bringing us through this storm.”

You know, it is our nature to want the storm to stop, to want the hurt and discomfort and inconvenience to just GO AWAY! I know my mind has fairly screamed that thought sometimes.

But then, in my mind’s eye another thought takes shape; a picture forms and I see there a ship being tossed about on great, dark waves. The wind is screaming in its mighty fury. The occupants of that ship have great reason to fear and I am one of those occupants. Then I see there with me in the boat, the One who has made all storms. He stands there in perfect control of the fury around me, and I know that He has the power to instantly stop this storm. But before He utters the words, “Peace, be still” I realize that I want Him to speak those words only to calm my heart. The storm does not matter anymore. Let it rage on! For He is in the boat with me and I know that when He has brought me through the storm I will have a treasure that only the storm could bring. I will have witnessed a small portion of the glory of God.

No matter where He sends me, when He is with me---as He has promised that He is--- that is my highest calling. There is no nobler task I should be doing. So, whether I am holding my deaf child as he goes through one procedure after another in hospitals and doctors’ offices; whether I am beside the Interstate in the middle of the night; whether I am at the side of a loved one going through a trial, or even if it is to my own home where my Lord would send me, I pray that somewhere along the way others will see some of His glory. And by His grace they too will ask Him to be their Savior and the Lord of their lives just as I did when I was a child. If you are reading this, no matter what your age, perhaps that someone is you.

When Jesus Christ is your Savior and the Lord of your life, you can experience the truth of what the Bible says in Romans 8:28, “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” When I remember that, when I daily place my trust in Him by abiding in His Word and taking time to pray, then I can sing a new song of praise and even one of thankfulness for the storms.

By Priscilla Marsceau

~

Dear Lord, give me a song

That lasts into dawn;

Teach my heart to sing in the night.

Help me place in Your hands

Broken dreams, shattered plans;

On my knees, may I sing of Your might.

Take my heart’s deep despair,

Every burden and care;

Touch my life, let it reflect Your light,

So that others may see

I trust only in Thee-

Teach my heart, Lord, to sing in the night.

~

At the end of the day

When I’d lose my way,

Teach my heart to sing in the night.

In a prison of pain,

When my strength would wane,

On my knees, may I sing of Your might.

When my pride would bring shame

And reproach to Your name,

Touch my life, let it reflect Your light,

So that others may see

Only Jesus, not me.

Teach my heart, Lord, to sing in the night.

~

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