Dear Explorer,
Once again, we have an incident that was recorded in 3 of the 4 gospels. Read all three and then we'll discuss it.
Read Matthew 8:23-27
And
Read Mark 4:35-41
And
Read Luke 8:22-25
I love the fact that the gospel writers record Jesus' life as being real. He got tired, thirsty, lonely. He was real! If I were writing a book about an imaginary hero, I probably wouldn't admit that He fell asleep while most of the other men were working at rowing the boat!
I also like it that they record their own personal fear. This was no little tempest. This was so dangerous that even the professional fishermen were frightened and feared for their lives.
Mark records that there were other boats traveling with them. So, they were all in the midst of the storm.
But I primarily love this section of Scripture because I'm like the disciples! God is totally in charge of my life. I try to walk in complete obedience and trust, but let a “storm” come – some problem or situation that I was not expecting, and I panic! Why? The God of the Universe is in charge, why should I worry or fret? Good question! One of my goals these last few years is to learn to live out or evidence my trust in God. Not just trust Him deep inside, but really let it make a difference when there's a need for trust. My God is a great big God who can handle anything! I want to please Him by showing my trust!
What do you think trust should look like?
I was on an airplane one time and I noticed (by peeking between the seats) a beautiful little girl. She was probably about 9 months old – sitting up and smiling and cooing at her mother. I noticed her mother was being very attentive to her. She had her sitting on the tray table in front of her – but she never took her hand off of her to make sure she was safe. I noticed that she kept talking to the girl and the girl would smile a beautiful dimpled smile back at her mother. She never took her eyes off her mother. I saw her mother put a sweater on her because she felt cold. The little girl didn't ask her for the sweater (she wasn't old enough to talk), but Mommy knew what she needed. We hadn't flown long before we hit pretty severe turbulence. I was amazed that all around us people were gasping, and some were crying because they were so scared. But the little girl just continued to keep her eyes on her mother and just kept smiling. Apparently, Mommy was convincing her that there was nothing to be afraid of – because she never seemed disturbed. She continued to sit there and look beautiful and smile and coo all through the storm.
That to me is a picture of trust. When things happen – it may startle me or frighten me at the beginning, but then I run to my Rock (Jesus) and feel His peace flowing through me.
What was the disciples' reaction to Jesus being able to control the wind and the waves?
Can you imagine being there? Sometimes we just read this like it was a normal happening. Would it be “normal” if someone stopped a storm today?
Jesus is quite capable of taking care of the storms in your life.
In His service, dale
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