Sometimes I feel like the disciples on that memorable day when they were crossing the Sea of Galilee...
"MASTER! WE'RE GOING TO DROWN!"
...................
The sermon this morning was about Jesus and his disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee. A big storm came up. Jesus slept through most of it. (He must have been pretty tired.) Anyway the disciples began to panic. The text says that they were in great danger. It was quite a squall and the boat was "being swamped".
"MASTER! MASTER! WE'RE PERISHING!"
Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the waves.
Then he turned to his disciples and said, "Where is your faith?"
First I'll say that the sermon this morning was not about faith, it was about crossing our own Sea of Galilee and being willing to minister in difficult/dangerous areas like "the region of the Gerasenes"--a pretty rough area back in the first century.
But I got something different out of the sermon. When the pastor read Jesus words, "Where is your faith?" My eyes filled with tears. Because I'm in a horrible storm and it has been going on for 2 years and I'm getting very tired of bailing the boat.
Should I be bailing the boat? Should I be adjusting the sails? Or should I just stand on deck--doing nothing--and 'have faith'.
I'm sure Jesus didn't expect his disciples to just stand there and do nothing. Author Luke writes that "they were in great danger". So I think I have to do what's necessary (bail the boat). But I need to make sure that I am not taking too much on myself. I have to be aware of a line...a boundry. A place where my efforts stop, and God takes over. A place where faith begins.
"I'm perishing!" That's what I had been saying to God last week. I didn't think I could go on any longer. But since I can't run away from home (But it IS tempting) I have no choice but to continue to endure the bad weather. But what I CAN do differently...is ask God to show me how to shift more of my anxiety on to his shoulders.
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement, they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Read the whole story...Luke 8:22-25
3 comments:
My friend - the world of bailing is a tough one. I've been the bailer as well & surely wanted to 'bail out' on life at the moment of my storm. I could not see the sunrise on the other side...but it did come! But I think during some of that time, He doesn't want us to stop bailing, but He will help us lift the bucket when we need His help. Or take some time to rest on His shoulder while He bails for you.
There's always a sunrise at the end of a dark storm. I pray your storm won't last so long.
I seem to either be in a storm or a desert myself.
Thinking about you and praying for you and your family.
Sharon, a verse I keep reminding myself of is Romans 10:17. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. As we read His Word in the midst of the storm, we begin to realize that His boat never sinks. Just stay on board!
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