A DAY OF TUMULT

I’d like to get back to the hymns for some of our discussions. 

I’m looking at the song from the 1800s, “Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult.”  I don’t think I ever looked up that word tumult.  Even as a kid, I somehow knew it meant a confusing day when you’d rather go back to bed.  I don’t know what Cecil Frances Alexander had in mind when she wrote:

“Jesus calls us o’er the tumult of our life’s wild restless sea.” 

She doesn’t look too wild and restless.  She looks more put together than I do on my days of tumult–or any day. 

Today started out as one of those mini tumult days.  The electricity went off, the clock was off, so I woke David up two hours late.  The rest of the day was OK, I was just so sleepy–in spite of a little extra sleep, and it was Monday.  It still is.  And last night I lost the pictures on my computer. 

What about real tumult?

*I attended two funerals last week.  One sweet friend was younger than I am.  *The economy looks worse daily.  Bailing out doesn’t seem to be the answer. 

*There’s crime and war and sickness. 

For these more serious tumultous days, let’s look at more of our song.

“Day by day His sweet voice soundeth….” 

*  You can follow Me or you can follow the stock market. 

*  You can believe me when I say, “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:19) or you can hope our leaders figure out how to keep us safe. 

*  You can confess, accept God’s forgiveness and believe Romans 8:1, “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,” or you can decay in your guilt. 

*  You can rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 3:1) or you can mullygrub like I did this morning. 

I wonder if she ever felt tumultuous over being named Cecil!