If our relationship with
God was strong, unwavering, and intimate, would we automatically call on His
name first? In other words, would we call out to Him first if we saw a storm
coming?
The question should be, do we
believe He will save us?
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41
When we are in the middle of a
storm, do we let doubt inch its way into our minds? If we lean toward doubt,
this creates thoughts of fear. Doubt is a breeding ground for fear. It is the tool
of our enemy, satan (I never capitalize his name).
A question we might want to ask the
Lord is, will He stop the storm for us as He did for the disciples on the Sea
of Galilee.
If we
listen, we can hear the banter in our minds, going back and forth. “Will He
save us?”
“Sure, I think He will,
maybe.”
Listen
carefully, you will see where the doubting phase begins in the mind.
“Well, I might not deserve
it.”
Then the questions repeat.
“Will He calm the storm?”
“Will He
bring us through?”
“Why hasn’t He
done something?”
“What is He
waiting for?”
“Where is He?”
“Doesn’t He know I am going through
this terrible storm?”
“Why am I going through this?”
“What did I do to deserve
this?”
“When is He is going to do something?”
Do any
of these questions sound familiar to you?
Why do we wonder if He will do
the same for us as He did
for the disciples? Don’t we
think we are as important to Him as they
were?
Okay, that question brings
us into the phase of comparing. We are now comparing us to the disciples
in the boat. We say, “Well
after all, they were disciples, I am just me. I am not important like
they were.” If we let this train
of thought continue along this track it
will take us down
into a pit of despair. We
will sink into an abyss
as dark and black as
the Sea of
Galilee was that night for
the disciples in their storm.
On the
other hand, it is possible we will not even think about
Him. We are so frightened and busy trying
to
keep our head above water
and figure out what to do
to save ourselves.
It could also be that
we tried asking Him for help once
in our past and we did
not feel He answered us. So,
we figure why bother waiting around to
ask Him to help us now with this storm;
odds are He may not help.
We think He does not
care, or He does not bother
with things like that.
Some people believe we are supposed to help
ourselves, right? We should not depend
on others,
which would include Him. If that is our
thinking process, then of course we are
going to try to figure
it out for
ourselves––independently of Him. We will try
to ride out
the storm and hope it does not take us under.
If
we know Him, really know Him, then we have
a close relationship with Him, and
we trust Him and call upon Him immediately. We do not doubt. He will either
quiet the storm or shore us up and bring us through the storm.
Our
faith
in Him will
bring us through. Our
faith will grow as we come to
know Him better. This can
only happen if we are
spending time with Him, reading His word,
studying His word, meditating on His word––praying, talking
with Him.
Prayer
Oh Father, I do want a close relationship with You. I want to know You
like the back of my hand. I want to know what You think; I want to know Your
will and Your desires for me. I want to know the plans You have for me, for
good not evil to give me a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Excerpt from my book Storms in Life.
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