In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke we find a story of the disciples being in a boat with Jesus. A great storm came up suddenly and the wind and the waves threatened to sink the boat. All the while Jesus was in the back of the boat sleeping. The gospel of Mark (4:38) reveals a really bad heart condition among the disciples. They ask the Lord if he even cares if they drown. He got up, rebuked the wind and the waves, and all was calm. In all three accounts, when Jesus addresses the disciples regarding the matter, he makes note that it is a faith issue; their lack of faith, to be more specific. They assumed that just because Jesus was sleeping he did not care. They let their natural minds go wild and they assumed all the worst. They thought they would be overcome by the storm and die. They believed there was nothing that could be done, and they believed that their master did not care.
We can take many lessons from the disciples. That is one of the reasons these accounts were written. Their hearts were hardened concerning the miracles they had already seen Jesus perform. They acted on what they were seeing right then instead of trusting in the faithfulness of God. Once they let fear take hold of them, they allowed it to manifest in spoken words of doubt and unbelief. If Jesus had not saved them they probably would have died, but he did save them. They had forgotten that before they left on the boat trip Jesus had said "let's go over to the other side", not”let's go out to the middle and drown". If Jesus would have spoken something that was not true, the entire universe - which is held together by his words - would have come unwound!
Let's learn from the disciples. When you are enduring terrible storms in this life, or even little squalls, don't panic. Our storms may be natural, like a great hurricane or tornado, or they may be the storms of life which can cause terrible pain and anxiety, if we let our emotions get the best of us. Remember that we are not to use the beautiful imagination that God has given us for worry. It never helps our tomorrows, it only saps our today(s) of their joy. You see, although the disciples were with Jesus in the flesh, they did not know him like we do. That's right; the disciples were still in the dark concerning many things about the Lord, unlike us today. We have the history of his ministry and purpose for our lives in his word. Not only that, but Jesus said it was better that he went away, so he could send a counselor, the Holy Spirit to be with us.
We can take many lessons from the disciples. That is one of the reasons these accounts were written. Their hearts were hardened concerning the miracles they had already seen Jesus perform. They acted on what they were seeing right then instead of trusting in the faithfulness of God. Once they let fear take hold of them, they allowed it to manifest in spoken words of doubt and unbelief. If Jesus had not saved them they probably would have died, but he did save them. They had forgotten that before they left on the boat trip Jesus had said "let's go over to the other side", not”let's go out to the middle and drown". If Jesus would have spoken something that was not true, the entire universe - which is held together by his words - would have come unwound!
Let's learn from the disciples. When you are enduring terrible storms in this life, or even little squalls, don't panic. Our storms may be natural, like a great hurricane or tornado, or they may be the storms of life which can cause terrible pain and anxiety, if we let our emotions get the best of us. Remember that we are not to use the beautiful imagination that God has given us for worry. It never helps our tomorrows, it only saps our today(s) of their joy. You see, although the disciples were with Jesus in the flesh, they did not know him like we do. That's right; the disciples were still in the dark concerning many things about the Lord, unlike us today. We have the history of his ministry and purpose for our lives in his word. Not only that, but Jesus said it was better that he went away, so he could send a counselor, the Holy Spirit to be with us.
The Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) is now in us- if we are born again- and he teaches us all things, and reminds us of all the things Jesus has said to us. So instead of Jesus just being in one place at a time, all of us born again Christians have our own personal Jesus living in us. Awesome! It is time we acknowledge that truth as truth, and quit acting like he is so far away, and that he may or may not show up for us, because he may or may not care what happens to us. Instead of magnifying the problems in our life, we are to magnify the Lord. Acknowledge that he is right here with us, that he loves us, that he cares for us, and that he is faithful.
Begin to praise him, meditate on his word, be thankful for the things he has already done and will do, and pray in the Holy Spirit. We need to use the authority he has given us by speaking to the storms of life ourselves, in the name of Jesus. Before long the problems of today will only be memories with a happy ending of how the Lord was once again faithful to bring us through.
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