June 24, 2018 Sunday

“35 ¶  On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40  But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” 41  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”” (Mark 4:35-41 NKJV)

            There are times in our life we think God is asleep. We call out for help and it seems all we receive is quiet. The waves of life beat us down and the winds of life blow us from our course. All of our plans and dreams are blown away and we are left fearful of the storm thinking we will sink.

            Like the disciples we cry out to God asking “Do you not care if we’re dying!” Because of our fear we believe God has forgotten us. Can God not see the dilemma we are in? Does God not care about us and our troubles?”

            We must learn God is not our Celestial ATM! God is not like a grandfather who tries to give us what we want! It is too easy to see God the Father as a Celestial Father Christmas.

            Jesus responds to the disciples fear by crying out “peace, be still!” Is Jesus just talking to the storm or is He also talking to the disciples? The next question of Jesus is “why are you so fearful?”

            Often our fear gets in the way of our peace and we cannot hear God’s reply to our prayer! We need to respond to the storms in our life by taking time to calm our fear and come to God ready to accept God’s will and by faith trusting God either will calm our storms or bring us safely through!

            Like the man Jesus healed sometimes our suffering is for the glory of God! But we must remember that upon the cross Jesus not only bore our sins but also our pain and suffering! A very simple theology I developed over the years is:

“God never asks anything from us He hasn’t already given to us and God never asks us to do anything God hasn’t already done for us.”

            How do you respond to the winds and waves in your life? Are you so busy hollering at God that you do not take time to listen? Are you willing to accept pain and suffering if it will bring glory to the God who suffered for you?