.
God is with you, every moment of the day and every day
of the week. He sees your struggles, and He has it all under control. Although
the storm may seem unbearable, and although it may feel like your boat is
sinking, He’s there for you when you cry out to Him. He can calm the sea with a
word, and He’s our safe harbor even when things feel out of control. If you’re
facing a storm, don’t waste time and energy trying to bail your boat out with a
teacup. Cry out to Jesus, trust in God, and let Him guide you through the
waves.
christrevealed.com
Their
boat was being violently tossed, and the disciples were terrified.
They’d
had fine weather when they set out for the other side of the lake, but the wind
blew in unexpectedly and one of the squalls that the lake was famous for rushed
down with vengeance.
Waves
rose higher than the boat as they bailed out the water that rolled over the
boat’s sides, shouting to be heard over the roar of the wind.
“Jesus,” they called out as
they fought to keep the boat afloat. “Help
us, please!”
But
there was no answer, and they kept up their frantic activity alone. “Jesus, where are you?”
Finally,
they discovered Jesus — sleeping.
In frustration,
someone shook him awake and cried out, “Teacher,
don’t you care if we drown?”
Jesus
stood, and with a few words he simply commanded the waves to be still.
Can
you imagine the silence, after all that blowing, shaking, and yelling?
Suddenly,
the sea was calm — the sky above reflecting on its still surface.
They
could hear their hearts pounding in their chests, so sudden and complete was
the change in weather.
Jesus looked from
one pale, trembling face to the next and shook his head. “Why are you so afraid,” he asked them. “Do you still have no faith?”
God in the Storm
Have
you ever found yourself crying out to God during one of life’s hard storms?
Maybe
it snuck up on you, or maybe it had been brewing for quite some time.
A
failing marriage, a health crisis, a job loss, a betrayal… the storms of life
can seem overwhelming, and it can feel like you are drowning.
Fear
can take over when we’re hit with a squall, and we’re left feeling like we’re
trying to bail the water out of our little boat with a teacup, exhausted,
fighting for our lives and barely able to speak. “Jesus, where are you?” we gasp in prayer.
“Don’t you care if
I drown?”
At
the point that they found themselves at the mercy of the waves in a boat that
must have suddenly felt like a bobbing death trap rather than a vessel of
safety, the disciples had already seen Jesus do plenty of miracles.
He’d
turned water into wine, and they had witnessed him heal many sick people.
In
fact, he’d recently healed a lame man on the Sabbath, inciting the wrath of the
Pharisees.
And
that day, he’s called himself “The Son of
Man,” — a direct reference to his identity as Messiah and Savior.
In fact, they’d
also seen Jesus at work in the crowds before this fateful boat trip, and when
impure spirits encountered him they “fell
before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’” (Mark 3:11).
They’d
had plenty of chances to see that Jesus was capable of miracles, that he cared
deeply for the people, and that he was no ordinary man.
Still,
despite the repeated miracles they’d witnessed—they were afraid that Jesus
would let them down.
The
disciples were afraid that Jesus had abandoned them, not only fearing that he
had fallen asleep and wasn’t paying attention, but that he didn’t care what
happened to them!
Of
course, Jesus cared. And he had the situation under control — he knew that with
a few words, he could turn the crisis around and put them back on calm waters.
He also knew that what happened that day in the boat was a powerful lesson that
would speak to believers through the ages to come, a lesson that we all need to
lean on at times.
Trusting in Jesus
to Calm Life’s Storms
If
the Lord’s close friends, who had been there at his side all along, were
lacking in faith… is it any wonder that we often find ourselves in the same
“boat”?
Sometimes
it really can feel like Jesus is has forgotten about us, he’s asleep on the job
or he just doesn’t care.
But
the truth is, God knows every second of the storm’s path, and He knows your
fears and struggles.
The
story of Jesus calming the storm is found in 3 out of 4 gospels, each account
tells the story in near-identical accounts.
Despite
how it must have felt to the disciples at the time, what happened that day on
the lake was no accident — it was a God-Ordained storm, and Jesus used it to
show his followers that he is in control of all creation… all of the time.
And
the same is true for you, today.
Psalm 121:4 says, “Indeed, he who watches over Israel never
slumbers or sleeps.”
God
is with you, every moment of the day and every day of the week.
He
sees your struggles, and He has it all under control.
Although
the storm may seem unbearable, and although it may feel like your boat is
sinking, He’s there for you when you cry out to Him.
He
can calm the sea with a word, and He’s our safe harbor even when things feel
out of control.
If
you’re facing a storm, don’t waste time and energy trying to bail your boat out
with a teacup.
Cry out to Jesus, trust in God, and let Him guide you through the waves.
https://www.christrevealed.com/where-is-god-during-the-storm/
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