“Calm us O Lord as You stilled the storm.
Still us O Lord; keep us from harm.
Let all the tumult within us cease;
Enfold us O Lord, in your peace.”

As we count down to praying the issues at our Day of Prayer conference and through the month of November, this compline or evening prayer resonates. Whether First World or Third, the issues that face women seem insurmountable and relentless: abuse, exploitation, inequality, illness, poverty, racism. What can one woman do?

This compline reminds us of the fundamental fact of our days: God is in the storm with us.

Our own panicked thoughts or numb deafness snatch away His words of love and reassurance. And truth be told, we wonder, in the deepest recesses of our souls, whether He is actually powerful enough to cut down to size, those huge waves of systemic, domestic and workplace, ministry injustices that threaten to overwhelm us.

God is in the storm with us.

So then, what can one woman do? Pray, with as much or as little faith as you have. Then rest in His peace.

By Renee James