Dealing with a storm in your life, going through a rough patch, facing a crisis… however you say it, we have all dealt with tough times in our lives. It may be a financial situation, a sickness or even a loss of a loved one, just to name a few, but we have all been through something. We may even be in the midst of something right now. Everyone deals with the storms in our lives in different ways. So consider this: Is the way that you deal with these storms always the best option?
Jesus and His disciples were on a boat one night after a long hard day of ministering to the crowds, when a sudden and furious storm came upon them. (See Matthew 8:23-27.) Jesus was sound asleep in the back of the boat when this storm hit. Some of the disciples were fishermen, so they were aware that such a storm could occur and were prepared to some degree to deal with it.
Yet this storm was different. It was beyond their capacity to maintain control of the boat, and they all believed that if Jesus didn’t do something soon, they were all going to drown. So, they all woke Jesus up. They were in such a panic that they all began yelling at Jesus. Mark records that the disciples asked Jesus, “Don’t You care that we are all about to drown?”
Talk about a rude awakening! Jesus, aroused from His well-deserved nap, asks them why their faith is so small. Then He calms the wind and the waves. The disciples were amazed at what they have just witnessed.
This short story raises many questions. The disciples were with Jesus for a while now and they had seen Him heal many people, teach with great authority and drive out demons, so why were they panicked? They woke Jesus and asked Him to do something, so why does He question the size of their faith? Why were the disciples so amazed when they saw Jesus calm the storm? All good questions.
The disciples were utterly fearful about the situation they were in. Hear this: Fear and faith don’t go together; the one will always diminish the other. What Jesus saw in the disciples was fear, not faith. Faith is what Jesus was looking for. Even though the disciples woke Him and asked Him to do something, they were doing it out of fear, not faith. They had seen Jesus perform many miracles, so where was their faith?
Have you ever been in a storm in your life and asked Jesus the question, “Don’t You care?” After all, He can see what we’re going through, so why isn’t He doing something about it? When we come to Jesus with this question, we are not coming to Him in faith. Rather, we are coming to Him in fear. It is possible then, that Jesus may find it best not rescue us when we are fearful, because He works through our faith, not our fear.
Have you ever noticed how calm pilots are when they are facing a crisis? Part of their training is to remain calm in a crisis and methodically work through the emergency. If there is to be any hope in the situation, they must remain calm. Panic will only bring about tragedy, not triumph. It is only through faith in their training, to be calm and work through the predicament are they best able to deal with it.
Jesus does care and truly wants what’s best for us. Sometimes what’s best for us is to go through a crisis. The only way for our faith to become stronger is for us to exercise our faith. Just as physical exercise strengthens our muscles, we need to exercise our faith when we face a storm in our lives.
Take heart. The LORD wants you to be able to face every storm knowing that, through faith, He is right there with you. He knows you will face many storms in life. Circumstances will often present themselves that will cause disturbances in your life. Many will be beyond your control, but through faith, you can get to the other side.
Jesus Christ has authority over all creation. He is longing for you to come to Him in the midst of your storm. He longs for you to come to Him not in fear, but in faith.
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