WHAT DO YOU DO IN A STORM?
20th Mar 2019
The storm on Lake Galilee blew up quickly and threatened to drown the disciples and Jesus, who was asleep in the boat. Past experience told the disciples they couldn’t survive the violence of the wind and the waves, and death was both imminent and possible. Terror and helplessness gripped them and their words to Jesus were accusatory and demanding, “Don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:35-41)
The storms of life often rise unexpectedly and can cause the same reaction in us; feelings that we have been abandoned and everything is hopeless; Jesus is asleep and we see only death and destruction. However, the disciples in their despair called out to Jesus, and He went into action on their behalf. Psalm 50:15 says “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you….” Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and they are safe.”
First, Jesus perceived the source of the storm as an attack, happening in the natural, but not natural, and He rebuked the power behind it, and the wind and the waves became completely calm and still. In Mark 4:35 we discover that it was Jesus’ suggestion that they go to the other side of the lake. He intended to get there and probably knew that an amazing deliverance was going to happen on the other side.
God has spoken about your life and the plans He has for you, to give you a future and a hope. Dwell on these promises, on His ability to help and deliver you, to give you His wisdom whatever the seemingly insurmountable problem. Take hold of the authority delegated to you and say to the storm, “Enough! - peace! - be still!” and then declare your original destination. In this case, it was the other side of the lake, where wonders were about to happen.
Don’t be cowed by fear. Ask for a gift of faith to enable you to be a “storm-queller” and remember every time you see a victory you will have more courage to face the next challenge.
David had faced many storms which prepared him to face Goliath. Hear his words in 1 Samuel 17:45, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands!”
by Joyce Sibthorpe
