In the Middle of the Storm
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Mark 4:35, 40, ESV
In the passage above Jesus had been teaching all day from the boat and in the evening he told the disciples to go across to the other side. Jesus was tired and he had gone to the stern of the boat to sleep. While they were crossing to the other side a huge storm arose and the boat was taking on a lot of water.
The disciples were doing all that they could to keep the water out, but they were not having any success. They were filled with fear that they would perish. They went down to the bottom of the stern where Jesus was sleeping and they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Jesus turned to the disciples and asked them “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
All day long Jesus had been teaching from the boat about faith through a parable. The disciples were there with him. However, they did not understand some of Jesus’s teachings about faith and so he explained the parable to them. The parable was all about faith, how they hear the word and their level of trust in God. Yet, when their time came to be tested with the word they had received, they failed. Jesus told them, “Let us go across to the other side.” He said to them that they were going to the other side, but when the storm in their lives came, they did not have the faith to trust God!
Just after I had finished reading the same scriptures about faith, I said, “God, I trust you, no matter what happens. This seed is on good ground and I trust you!” But It was not even 24 hours later that Jesus tested my words. I was just like the disciples at the onset of the storm. We can be so sure of ourselves, but it is not until we are tested that the truth is revealed.
I was so sure that I believed God! But when the test came, I found that my faith struggled. I was praying for my faith, for my trust, to rest in everything I said I believed. I just kept praying because I wanted to rest in my faith. I did not want to react with my emotions and in the midst of my prayer, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the story I had read not even 24 hours earlier. My prayer immediately changed to praise, and I was instantly comforted!
God knows our heart, but he has to show us where we are so that when the next time a crisis arises it will not shake us! The disciples’ lessons while they were with Jesus prepared them for the ministry that would come when Jesus was gone. They were so secure in their faith, that they became the foundation of the church of today.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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