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The number three most viewed post of 2011 was Jesus Said It, Why Do We Doubt It from September 22, 2011.
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(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?
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Read my previous post: Best of 2011: #4 Before and After
Read my next post: Best of 2011: #2 Burrito in the Buff
