The Holy One calls to me this morning. People that I love are in the midst of life's storms. Circumstances like the weather are ever changing and unpredictable. Many of us are crying out to the Lord with an SOS.
The Holy Spirit speaks into my heart and reminds me of a certain storm on a certain lake and the Disciples shaking in fear. "I AM the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Nothing happens outside My control."
I turn to the book of Matthew to re-read the account He has brought to my mind. Jesus had just spoken to the multitude and taught a new lesson we know as the "Beatitudes". He followed that lesson with visual manifestations of healing and deliverance from demonic oppression for all who were brought to Him in those conditions. All the supernatural elements of His deity were now on display.
Leaving that place we come to Matt 8:23-24, "Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat but Jesus kept sleeping".
The disciples went into a panic mode.
Vs 25-26, "The disciples went and woke Him saying, "Lord, save us we are going to drown". He replied, "Oh you of little faith. Why are you so afraid? Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and it was completely calm."
Wherever I read this passage I am struck with the visual that the One who created the storm is asleep in it. Even as His flesh, like that of the disciple's, was being threatened by the natural circumstances, the Lord demonstrated His authority over the winds and the waves. The storm became a tool in the Hands of the Master and one He used it to teach the Disciples a lesson in trust.
From a warfare perspective, I can see the storm as an "attack" on Him after a victorious meeting with 5000+ people on the side of a mountain whereby He revealed Himself as the bread of life for all who followed Him there. The way He rebuked the storm suggests that the enemy may have had something to do with it. I can relate it to the arch enemy, the devil throwing a tantrum at the One who came to destroy his evil works. Regardless of how we might interpret the origin of the storm, His use of it leaves no doubt as to Who had authority over it.
This situation also reveals that while He was disappointed in their apparent "lack" of faith and the fear of the storm's destructive potential to their very lives, He patiently calmed the storm, using it to teach them more about Himself.
This reminder comes as sweet blessing to my heart while I pray for family and friends facing their own storm in life. I can pray trusting that it is, yet again, as all storms in life, only a tool in the Hands of the Master with eternal purpose for those who are caught up in it.
As I have been encouraged to see life and the situations on earth from that overarching perspective, He reminds me to pray His will in light of eternity and not let temporal fear get in the way.
For those who know Him as Savior and Lord, their peace will be a testimony to the world around them of His Presence in their lives and so I pray for their peace. For those who do not know Him as the One who calms the storm, I pray they find Him in it.
We cannot begin to fathom what the Lord of eternity has waiting for us or how this or any storm plays a part in His eternal plan. But one thing we can be sure of: God's eternal and unconditional love is in the storm.
The Spirit is calling Can you hear Him?
The Holy Spirit speaks into my heart and reminds me of a certain storm on a certain lake and the Disciples shaking in fear. "I AM the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Nothing happens outside My control."
I turn to the book of Matthew to re-read the account He has brought to my mind. Jesus had just spoken to the multitude and taught a new lesson we know as the "Beatitudes". He followed that lesson with visual manifestations of healing and deliverance from demonic oppression for all who were brought to Him in those conditions. All the supernatural elements of His deity were now on display.
Leaving that place we come to Matt 8:23-24, "Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat but Jesus kept sleeping".
The disciples went into a panic mode.
Vs 25-26, "The disciples went and woke Him saying, "Lord, save us we are going to drown". He replied, "Oh you of little faith. Why are you so afraid? Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and it was completely calm."
Wherever I read this passage I am struck with the visual that the One who created the storm is asleep in it. Even as His flesh, like that of the disciple's, was being threatened by the natural circumstances, the Lord demonstrated His authority over the winds and the waves. The storm became a tool in the Hands of the Master and one He used it to teach the Disciples a lesson in trust.
From a warfare perspective, I can see the storm as an "attack" on Him after a victorious meeting with 5000+ people on the side of a mountain whereby He revealed Himself as the bread of life for all who followed Him there. The way He rebuked the storm suggests that the enemy may have had something to do with it. I can relate it to the arch enemy, the devil throwing a tantrum at the One who came to destroy his evil works. Regardless of how we might interpret the origin of the storm, His use of it leaves no doubt as to Who had authority over it.
This situation also reveals that while He was disappointed in their apparent "lack" of faith and the fear of the storm's destructive potential to their very lives, He patiently calmed the storm, using it to teach them more about Himself.
This reminder comes as sweet blessing to my heart while I pray for family and friends facing their own storm in life. I can pray trusting that it is, yet again, as all storms in life, only a tool in the Hands of the Master with eternal purpose for those who are caught up in it.
As I have been encouraged to see life and the situations on earth from that overarching perspective, He reminds me to pray His will in light of eternity and not let temporal fear get in the way.
For those who know Him as Savior and Lord, their peace will be a testimony to the world around them of His Presence in their lives and so I pray for their peace. For those who do not know Him as the One who calms the storm, I pray they find Him in it.
We cannot begin to fathom what the Lord of eternity has waiting for us or how this or any storm plays a part in His eternal plan. But one thing we can be sure of: God's eternal and unconditional love is in the storm.
The Spirit is calling Can you hear Him?
No comments:
Post a Comment