What faith and peace our Teacher has! He is asleep on a boat in the midst of the storm!
His students are not at all peaceful. They are fearful.
They wake Him – Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?
Oh, those storms of life! How they test our faith and steal our peace!
In fact, extremely stressful situations create a kind of civil war within. A push-pull between our fears and our hopes!
Our fears tell us we will drown in these troubles, but our faith gives us reason to hope for rescue.
Only the presence of Jesus resolves this inner conflict.
Sometimes in our lives - just as He did for His students that day - Jesus speaks to the storm.
Peace, be still.
Then the Teacher turned to His students - Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?
With each new experience with their Teacher, these students were learning to trust Him. They respond - Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!
What about us?
Jesus doesn’t always calm the storm in our lives. But He always speaks peace to our hearts in the midst of every storm!
One way or the other, Jesus is always there to give His peace. Students of Jesus stay close enough to hear His voice.
Could you imagine anything more impossible than being in a boat in the middle of a huge storm and Jesus stopping the waves, the wind, and the rain instantly by simply speaking the words "peace, be still". The storm didn't start to subside, it ended abruptly.
ReplyDeleteNot only does Jesus care when we are in distress, He has the power to end our problems. The disciples are rebuked for not having faith that He will protect them. How many times in our lives do we have to remind ourselves that Jesus is protecting us and no matter what the storm is, it will end in our favor.
Calming the waters was no problem for Jesus, but it is a significant problem for us if we forget who the Teacher is. When it feels like Jesus is asleep in our lives while we are battling the storms, how often do we remember to have faith in His ability to resolve our problems? This reminds me of Romans 8:31... "If God is for us, who can be against us?" When we remember who the Teacher was and what He did, we should have the faith to know that there is nothing that can oppose us when we depend on Him. Maybe it won't always go as we want in this life, but certainly He will provide an eternal solution for our problems.
Focus issues...
ReplyDeleteThis squall must have shocked the disciples. They knew Jesus was in the boat but...
When the storm came where was their focus?
It was on saving their own neck. Immediately their attention turned to their own mortality.
Jesus critizes their fear.
If we are with Jesus why are we afraid of the storms? Maybe because even before the storms we haven't decided to be completely focused on the teacher. If we strive for this focus fear will be gone because His love will be complete in us and this perfect love casts away fear. See 1 John 4:13-18
Thanks to all for the great comments and encouragement!
ReplyDeleteYes, Thank You all!
ReplyDelete