ENJOY THE RIDE Today, in a meeting at church we read the story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:35-41. Jesus is asleep on a cushion as the boat carrying He and the disciples encounters a fierce storm at sea. (By the way, this is the only time in scripture we find Jesus sleeping. We find him teaching, preaching, rejoicing, walking, resting, eating, drinking, praying, agonizing and dying…but this is the ONLY time we find him sleeping). Thats quite interesting given the context--a raging storm. The Bible says, ...the disciples cried out in terror; then Jesus commanded the storm to cease. As I reflected on the story it seemed to me that all the drama couldve been prevented if the disciples hadnt made a few basic miscalculations. Allow me to share and elaborate on each. 1. They underestimated the PEACE of Jesus...even in a storm. When I was a boy, I had an uncle who was a pilot, and sometimes he would fly me around in his very small airplane, which was scary to be sure, yet I dont ever recall being afraid. Want to know why? Because I watched his face, and it was ALWAYS calm. And I decided, If my Uncle Don is calm, I can be calm too. Rather than watching the storm, the disciples SHOULDVE watched Jesus. Good lesson for us as well. Ive never known a time when I thought Jesus was frightened, have you? I dont see him frightened anywhere in scripture either. When Im scared, I try to get close to Him as I possibly can. If Jesus is calm (and He always is), I can find strength to be calm too. 2. They underestimated the PRESENCE of Jesus. I mean, Jesus WAS in the boat! I once read of a father and his little boy who lived in a large house, just the two of them. The son slept on the third floor; the father on the first. One night there was a raging storm, and as the father put his son to bed the little boy asked, “Daddy, could you leave the light on tonight? Please? The father replied, “Son, I’ll give you a choice. I’ll leave the light on, and you can sleep alone….OR, I’ll turn it off, and sleep with you. The boy gleefully chose the presence of his dad. Are you a little nervous these day? Do you sometimes feel like your life is a runaway train? Like youre hanging on by a thin thread? Hey, choose to note the presence of the Jesus in EVERY situation, and you’ll be fine. I promise. 3. The other thing they underestimated was His POWER. They woke him and cried out, “Master, don’t you care if we drown? Then Jesus stilled the storm…and the Bible says, When they saw it, they were astonished. Seriously? Why? Theyd watched Him give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, cleanse the lepers and raise the dead. Why should they be incredulous that he could calm a storm? Its because they habitually underestimated His power. Whens the last time YOU did that? Yeah, I know. Me too. In an old Mel Brooks comedy theres a sketch where an elderly man claims to be 1000s of years old. A reporter interviewing him jokingly says, “So, tell me something sir. Were you around when people started believing in God?!” The old man (Mel Brooks) replies, “Oh yes. As a matter of fact, God’s name was Phil!” He continues, Yep, one day a man named Phil came to town and claimed he was God and people started following him. Then a storm blew in and Phil got struck by lightning and died on the spot. And somebody said, We’ll one thing we know for SURE….there’s somebody bigger than ole Phil! Friends, we can be certain of two things: 1) Gods not named Phil, and 2) nothing or no one in all the universe trumps His power. I dont know about you, but that gives me a lot of confidence and greatly diminishes my fears. I hope you experience that too. He pays for what He orders, friends, and He NEVER runs low on funds. But that doesnt mean a lot...if we habitually underestimate His peace, presence or power. Dont forget that. Keep your eyes on Him...and enjoy the ride, even in the storm.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 00:30:50 +0000
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