Jesus, Sender of the Storm (Part 3)

Today’s Treasure

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid”.

Matthew 14:22-27

We have been talking about how Jesus is the sender of our storms in order to give us much needed direction and correction.  This story reveals how quickly the human heart forgets the work of God in our lives and so easily returns to fright mode in a crisis.  It is specifically noted that even after the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, the disciples were still not understanding that Jesus truly was the Son of God.  He says that they had not understood about the loaves because their hearts were hardened.  

It’s so easy for us to judge biblical stories with our modern-day hindsight sensibilities, yet we live the same way every time we enter a storm.  We panic! We seek to fix it!  We throw our hands up and say, “Where are you, God?”  We show total disregard to what has been revealed to us in our past about the character of God. So, it’s necessary that we understand that sometimes God sends storms to give us much needed protection from our own self-sufficiency.

He sends the storms to give us needed protection.

After Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the masses, the people were impressed, excited, and anticipated that this indeed was the Deliverer they had been waiting for.  But their idea for deliverance was solely based on Him providing for them, ruling politically, and granting them freedom.  It looked nothing like a servant King who would soon be hung on a cross.  They desired an earthly king.  And sadly, so do we!  We treat Jesus like He is a Santa Claus or a 24-hour ATM. We tell Him what we want and wonder when He will deliver.  And it is only through a storm, a shake-up, that we truly experience His protection.  We see too,  that it is the fiery trials that reveal where our relationship is with Jesus.  Trials test the quality of the work of Christ in our lives.

I remember when my son John suddenly died, many of the women from my Bible study and close family members, rushed over to my house.  The two state troopers were still in my kitchen talking to my husband.  It was like everything went into slow motion mode and a thick fog was separating me from everything around me.  But just like that, mechanically, numbly, I blurted out to my girlfriends, “Can we pray?”  I moved towards my study and they all followed.  We held hands and then there was nothing but silence, and the sound of soft sobs.  And then something strange happened.  I began to pray and the words of my heart led by the Holy Spirit just poured out.  I have no idea what I said, but it was in the crushing of that moment that God’s Holy Spirit interceded on my behalf.  And it was right then and there I felt His protection to my heart through the power of the Spirit.
 

And finally…

He sends storms to nurture perfection.

And when I say perfection—I mean completion.  Let us not forget that it would be those same weak-kneed disciples, who often misunderstood what was unfolding right before them, that would ultimately boldly preach the gospel, even through persecution, torture, death, and imprisonment.  They eventually turned the entire world upside down.  All of their experiences prepared them in untold ways to endure for the furtherance of the gospel.

I can remember standing in a prison line for my weekend visits to see my son.  I would look around and see people I would never cross paths with.  It was right there in that line that I remembered a prayer I had prayed for years, “May I see with Your eyes, feel with Your heart and hear with Your ears.”  And there the answer to my prayers was pressed straight into my heart as I realized that God had placed me in the center of a storm.  I was given the opportunity to minister to many of those I met with His loving protection guiding me.  It was there that the “Be Still Foundation” (www.bestillfoundation.org) was birthed.  Our foundation serves to be a lighthouse to those in the midst of a tragedy.  

LIFE GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

PRAYER

Father, may we understand the storms in our lives are there to give us direction and correction and to reveal Your protection, all aiming towards the perfection of our faith.