Our God is Mighty

by Andy Cokayne 30 October 2021

While having a few days away in North Yorkshire, we visited Whitby. As we have done before, we wandered from the railway station down to the harbour and along the West Pier towards the West Lighthouse. Trinity House, a charity dedicated to the safeguarding of seafarers built the Lighthouse in 1858. It was designed as a pair of towers with fixed lights, which became automated in 1992, and now stands as a singular tower. The lighthouse stands 13 metres tall with a range of 13 nautical miles. It now stands as a monument to Victorian engineering.

On the base of the Lighthouse, to the left of the lightning conductor, is a small brown plate, which reads as above. ‘Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea - the Lord on high is mighty.’ On that day the sea appeared relatively calm, but on some of our previous visits the waves have crashed against the sides of the pier and we have had a better idea of what the Psalmist intended by ‘the thunder of the great waters’ and the breakers of the sea’. I can imagine when out at sea, sailors, passengers, and fishermen, have a very different view of these terms, and get an even better idea of the sea’s power. The Psalm reminds us that we may look at the violence, power, and fear that the sea engenders in us, and yet God, our God, is mightier than the roughest sea.

The Lighthouse and the plate at its foot, is where those looking out for their loved ones return to the harbour, from a stormy sea, would pass or stand, looking and praying for their loved ones safe return. The sea, especially the North Sea, has remained a very unforgiving, and when storms arise, a very fearful place, every sailor, passenger, or fisherman could no doubt confirm that. This small brown pIate is a reminder to all who read it, that no matter how big the waves may be, how great the storm may be, how fearful we may be, that the Lord on high is mighty, and greater than all of our troubles.

The plate is a timely reminder to us too, in these challenging times, that the Lord on high is mighty. Sometimes we forget how great and powerful our God is, or wonder why he doesn’t intervene. Yet he is with us through it all. He has not lost his power, nor has he lost interest in us. He remains committed to us, and forever the same ‘Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea - the Lord on high is mighty.’ We need to put our hand, place our trust, in our mighty God to see us through

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life