(c) 9/21/11, My sweet friend, Kathy in Louisiana
Sent in a text to me last night, but perfect for this post!
Mark 4:35-41 is probably my favorite passage in the
entire Bible. It’s the story where Jesus
and the disciples get in a boat to go to the other side of the lake.
Oh, yeah…that’s
interesting.
Oh, stop rolling
your eyes!
Look at verse 35, Jesus says, “Let us go over to the other side”.
(NASB)
(Yes, I went all red-letter edition for this post!)
He pretty much
said to His posse, “Yo, dudes, I’m goin’ over to the other side of the
lake.” OK, he probably didn’t actually
call them “dudes”, but the point was HE
WAS GOING.
But then the
storm came up, the winds blew the boat around (I have the Gilligan’s Island
theme song in my head here) and the waves came up over the boat, so much that
the boat was starting to fill with water.
“Oh, no!” cried
the disciples, “Somebody go wake up Jesus!”
All this wind
and waves going on and Jesus was still sleeping! He said He was going to the other side,
and He didn’t doubt Himself. So there He was, sawing logs…zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Here they
come! Look out!
Whiner #1 says,
“Jesus! Wake up! We’re sinking!”
Whiner #2 says,
“Yeah! Don’t you care about us? We’re going to die and You’re down here
taking a nap!”
Jesus got up and
said to the wind and waves - oh, and notice that He didn’t YELL at them, at least
it doesn’t say so in my Bible, He just said, “Hush,
be still”.
And it all
stopped.
Can you picture
it? The noise of the wind and the waves
roaring in your ears and then all of a sudden it all stops. I’m sure the silence was deafening.
Jesus turns to
them and says, “Helllooooo….!” OK, He
didn’t actually say that either, but can’t you hear it in His words?
“Why are you
so timid? How is it that you have no
faith?”
After all the
time they spent with Jesus, it still
surprised them that He could do such miracles. Yeah, look at verse 41 “Who then is this, that even the wind and
the sea obey Him?”
From our vantage
point we want to say, “Duh!”, but they didn’t have the advantage of 2000 years
of history with this incredible man!
Why is this my
favorite story? Because Jesus said, “I’m going to the other side”. That’s it.
If He said it,
then why would the disciples doubt it? He is Jesus, the Son of the
Living God, and He IS God, and God never lies, so if He said He was going to the other
side then I would have no reason to doubt that He’d get there.
So, when Jesus
speaks something into your life, you’d better know that He will see it to
fulfillment. Don’t look at the wind and
the waves around your boat. Don’t wake
Him in a panic crying, “Oh, God! I’m going to DIIIEEE!” No you’re not. He SAID it, we need to BELIEVE
it!
Don’t be a
whiner.
Many years ago
Martha Tennison spoke at our church on a Sunday morning and she said this,
which I wrote in my Bible next to this story…
“Don’t read into God’s
silence His absence. God may speak to us
about a promise and never speak on it again, but in His silence He has not left
us or forgotten.”
God IS taking
you to the other side. The ride may be
bumpy, but you’ll get there!
Seat cushion
anyone?
What storm is in your life that Jesus needs to speak peace to? What word did He give you that you need to stand firm on in your faith?
Does this devotional encourage you? Please consider sharing it with your friends. Thank you!
