This is an excellent devotion by Matt Ayers and you can find the original HERE. I have highlighted some thoughts that stood out to me.
One of my favorite stories from the Gospels is when Jesus calms the storm while on the boat with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35–41). The storm is raging on and his disciples are panicking. As experienced fishermen who have certainly seen their share of storms on the water, Jesus’ disciples are sure that death is imminent. This must have been a storm of epic proportions! All the while, Jesus is fast asleep.
The frightened disciples wake Jesus saying, “‘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” (Mark 4:38–39, emphasis added).
When his disciples witness that even the wind and waves obey his command they turn to ask each other, “Who is this guy?!”
There are three features of this story that apply to current events. First, this story affirms that there will be some intense storms in this life, and the most intense ones will tempt us to panic. The greatest storms will tempt us to rage and waver along with its unruly winds and churning waters. As long as we live in a broken and hurting world, things will not always be calm and peaceful around us. At the same time, God uses these situations that arise to invite us to deepen our dependence on him and commitment to him. Any situation that causes us to rely on Jesus on a deeper level and inspire greater faith in his capacity to redeem is something for which to be thankful. Let us rejoice in the problems that cause us to put our roots down deeper in the love of God!
Second, and most importantly, when these storms rage around us (and they will rage), we need not worry, and must not panic because Jesus is with us. No matter how the climate may change around us, what will never change is the historical fact that Jesus walked out of the grave on the third day victorious (his greatest miracle). Jesus invites us to share his peaceful and calm posture in the midst of circumstances in which brokenness runs amuck in the world like an out-of-control storm. Jesus, as the example of faith in the story, sleeps through the storm and the source of his peace and stillness is his trust in the Father and assurance that he is the sovereign king whose authority no adversary can legitimately challenge.
Third, Jesus calms the storm. According to the Old Testament, God alone controls nature. This story, then, attests to Jesus divinity. This means that when storms like this rage, it is by no human power or authority that peace will come, it is only by God’s sovereignty that order manifests in the midst of chaos.
The bottom-line is that the greater the problem, the greater the opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate what he’s capable of. When we deepen our faith in him during chaos of epic proportions, Jesus does what only God can do. When we witness this, like the disciples, we will stand back in awe of what he can accomplish.
By God’s grace, let us follow Jesus’ example of faith. Let us rediscover the assurance of God’s unmatched capacity to redeem every circumstance and calm every storm.
One of my favorite stories from the Gospels is when Jesus calms the storm while on the boat with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35–41). The storm is raging on and his disciples are panicking. As experienced fishermen who have certainly seen their share of storms on the water, Jesus’ disciples are sure that death is imminent. This must have been a storm of epic proportions! All the while, Jesus is fast asleep.
The frightened disciples wake Jesus saying, “‘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” (Mark 4:38–39, emphasis added).
When his disciples witness that even the wind and waves obey his command they turn to ask each other, “Who is this guy?!”
There are three features of this story that apply to current events. First, this story affirms that there will be some intense storms in this life, and the most intense ones will tempt us to panic. The greatest storms will tempt us to rage and waver along with its unruly winds and churning waters. As long as we live in a broken and hurting world, things will not always be calm and peaceful around us. At the same time, God uses these situations that arise to invite us to deepen our dependence on him and commitment to him. Any situation that causes us to rely on Jesus on a deeper level and inspire greater faith in his capacity to redeem is something for which to be thankful. Let us rejoice in the problems that cause us to put our roots down deeper in the love of God!
Second, and most importantly, when these storms rage around us (and they will rage), we need not worry, and must not panic because Jesus is with us. No matter how the climate may change around us, what will never change is the historical fact that Jesus walked out of the grave on the third day victorious (his greatest miracle). Jesus invites us to share his peaceful and calm posture in the midst of circumstances in which brokenness runs amuck in the world like an out-of-control storm. Jesus, as the example of faith in the story, sleeps through the storm and the source of his peace and stillness is his trust in the Father and assurance that he is the sovereign king whose authority no adversary can legitimately challenge.
Third, Jesus calms the storm. According to the Old Testament, God alone controls nature. This story, then, attests to Jesus divinity. This means that when storms like this rage, it is by no human power or authority that peace will come, it is only by God’s sovereignty that order manifests in the midst of chaos.
The bottom-line is that the greater the problem, the greater the opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate what he’s capable of. When we deepen our faith in him during chaos of epic proportions, Jesus does what only God can do. When we witness this, like the disciples, we will stand back in awe of what he can accomplish.
By God’s grace, let us follow Jesus’ example of faith. Let us rediscover the assurance of God’s unmatched capacity to redeem every circumstance and calm every storm.
No comments:
Post a Comment