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| Fearing the storms of life |
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| Written by Doug Craven | |
| Wednesday, 24 June 2009 | |
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FEARING THE STORMS OF LIFE Mark 4:35-41 William Gurnall wrote: We fear LIFE so much because we fear GOD so little. Sometimes Jesus calms the storms. He has the power to do so. That is one of the lessons of this passage. Jesus has the authority over creation. He has the power over the storms of your life. John 16:33 (NIV) states that: In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. Sometimes Jesus allows the storms of life to beat down upon us. Sometimes Jesus will allow us to go through many storms. It can allow our faith to grow. Sometimes we must break free of our basic understandings of faith in order to grow closer to Jesus. In James 1:2-4, we read, Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Through difficulties come victories. The trials we face can allow us to grow and, allow us to engage our faith and come to terms with it. These challenges in life may allow us to change and grow, often in the context of pain, but never outside of Gods love. The fact is we all need some storms in life. Without them, our faith would not mature and our lives would be incomplete. I recently learned from one of our members that when there is a lot of lightning that all the plant life becomes greener as there is a higher release of nitrogen. Yet, I also learned that exploding dynamite creates the same affect in the area around the blast. Lightning or explosions are not the way we normally think of fertilizing. Such can be the blasts from the storms of our lives. From these blasts can come a renewal and strengthening of faith. One could also say that the story of the storm revolved around three questions. First, the disciples asked Jesus one question. Teacher dont you care that we are about to die? Jesus asked them two questions. He asked, Why are you afraid? and Have you no faith? At times, we too are like the disciples. We sometimes question if Jesus is attentive to us and to our needs. Do you think anyone may have ever said, Lord, dont you care that Im going through this mess right now? Sometimes it may seem as if Jesus is asleep in the boat with us. But, he is not asleep, and he does care. Consider the caterpillar: The caterpillar goes into the cocoon to re-emerge the butterfly. But the butterfly must struggle to work its way out of the cocoon on its own. The storms of life strain us. The gold is put into the fire because it is gold and we want it refined to its best level. Our question to Jesus often is, Dont you care? His reply to us is, Dont you have faith? This is the key. While we say, Lord, dont you care about my situation? He says, Dont you trust me to help you deal with it? When we trust God, we have no reason to fear. There is no need to fear when we know God is on our side. Oh, that we may say, like the Psalmist, who wrote: Who is like you, LORD God of hosts? O mighty LORD, your faithfulness all around you. Lord, you rule the raging of the sea and still the surging of its waves. Fear not the storms of life!!!!!!! Amen. ....Doug Craven |
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