Storms are Inevitable

“Suddenly a violent storm developed, with waves so high the boat was about to be swamped. Yet Jesus continued to sleep soundly. The disciples woke him up, saying, “Save us, Lord! We’re going to die!” Matthew 8

Yesterday, we were stepping into our oasis of peace with Jesus and today we will talk about how to handle the storms. Most of us have heard the story of Jesus and his disciples crossing the lake. Jesus goes to sleep, and the disciples freak out when the storm suddenly blew up. Isn’t this how we are in our daily lives? We’re walking along trusting Jesus with our happy go lucky life. Everything is going well. He’s Jehovah-Jireh, Prince of Peace, Way maker and then suddenly something out of nowhere comes up. We completely forget the Almighty we walk with.

This happens for one reason: lack of trust. There are areas in each one of us that is completely sold out on His love and care for us but there are other areas we freak out and forget who’s boat we are on. Which is exactly why He will take what is meant to disrupt our peace and cause us harm to turn it around for our good. The Kingdom is more concerned with the depths of your heart than your outside comfort.

Pastor Tim taught beautifully on this Sunday morning. This is what he shared.

We have career fishermen on this boat. They've been in a lot of storms on a boat but something about this storm terrified them. I would imagine it lasted longer than they wanted. Have you ever been here? Lord is this ever going to end. The first couple of days you can manage it, but it just seems to get worse. They were so terrified they ran down to the bottom of the boat and shook Jesus violently. He’s still sleeping in the storm, and they say, Jesus, don't you care we're dying! Every stress and doubt we experience comes from this question, God, don't you see me struggling here. Lord, do you care that I'm losing everything. Lord, do you care that the repo man's outside, the power company's cutting the lights off, do you care we have nothing. Can I tell you something about the kingdom it's less concerned with how comfortable the ride across the water, it's more concerned about getting to questions that only storms reveal. I don't fully trust you when I get to this spot, Lord.

Storms do come; it is how we handle them on the inside that matters. In every circumstance we must ask Him this question. “What are you wanting to teach me in this? How can I come out on the other side reflecting you?”