When the Lord disturbs

Disturb us, Lord
by Sir Francis Drake

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.


"Security is mostly a myth. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." --Helen Keller

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"Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces." (Jeremiah 48:11-12)

Chastisement: The Correcting Hand of God

Who can hide from the seeking eyes of the Lord?
Can anyone deny in his heart before the Lord?
Who can avoid the chastisement of the Lord?
Can anyone rebuke the ways of the Lord?

It's futile resisting the chastisement of the Lord.
For no one He loves escapes His rod of correction.


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[Hebrews 12:5-13]

Forget not the exhortation which reasons with you as with children, “My child, don't take lightly the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and scourges every child whom He receives.”

It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what child is there whom his father doesn't discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children.

Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised thereby. Therefore, lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that which is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

[Proverbs 3:11-12] My child, don't despise the Lord's discipline, neither resent His reproof: for whom the Lord loves, He reproves; even as a father reproves the child in whom he delights.

Get Rid of Your Garbage

Ephesians 4:17-32

Walk no longer as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts; who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But you did not learn Christ that way; if indeed you heard Him, and were taught in Him, even as truth is in Jesus: that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members one of another. “Be angry, and don't sin.” Don't let the sun go down on your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor honestly, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.

Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for building up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.