You may have to go through some storms and some fire before you see God come through, but He WILL come through for you! I want you to be encouraged today, don’t allow the enemy or anyone else to convince you that you are out of God’s will because things aren’t too easy for you. Sometimes when things heat up, it is a sign you are a threat to the enemy, and even more of a sign you are in God’s will!
God has spoken to so many and made His will known, I want to encourage you to continue following God, at some point God is going to show up and change everything. Consider with me the following passage of Scripture: Mark 4:35-42 “As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
And you may be feeling that way today you, are saying in your heart, ‘hey it was your idea to come out here now I’m in this storm, don’t you care I’ going to drown?’ Let me tell you something, if God told you to get into that boat and you are where you are today because you obeyed God, then you are in a special category! God is responsible for your safety, He is responsible to keep His Word and He is responsible to get you to your destination. It’s just sometimes we have a little difficulty trusting and believing that.
And of course once Jesus has calmed the storm he rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. They had already seen Him do so many miracles, they should have trusted Him more. Of course, when the storms of life come, and it looks like God is asleep and not responding immediately, as human beings we do tend to panic, and that is exactly what these disciples did, they panicked!
And armchair critics like ourselves love to read these stories smugly and think about how much more faith we might have displayed, but to be honest I have more sympathy for these disciples the more I go through the storms of life. They were literally in a sinking ship and it looked like Jesus didn’t even care, they were faced with their mortality and they were shaken to the core. The truth is, in my opinion, it’s not until you go through something like that, that you find out what’s really inside of you, and only when you see God move like that your faith can truly grow.
Sometimes we need to be willing to allow God to take us to the wire, and even into the fire, to show Him how much we really trust Him! And this storm was not a gentle breeze, rocking the boat a little, this was a fierce storm, one that had the ability to destroy everything. I want to challenge you today and ask you, as you are feeling the intensity of the storm you are in, ‘Who’s report will you believe?’ ‘What kind of God do you serve?’ and ‘Are you willing to trust God, follow God and believe Him no matter how hard it gets?’
These were the hard question Jesus was asking between the lines of His disciples, as the winds of adversity began to blow, Jesus was looking for deeper faith! Faith that believes in the tough times. It’s easy to believe God when things are going well, but what about when your very life is on the line, that’s when the real fruit of your faith is manifest.
And some of us have been out on this boat, halfway to our destination and some discouraging things have begun to happen, we think, ‘I’m too far away from the shore now to turn back and now we get a storm – give me a break!” “This is the last thing I need out here in the middle of the lake!”
And the enemy knows when we are most vulnerable, when to attack and he did, and they were struggling out there on the water. Some storms are demonic, and God will allow us to be tested to see how determined we are to hang in there and believe.
It may seem like Jesus is asleep, but He is totally in control, it may seem like He is doing nothing, but just you wait and see what will happen when it is His time to move! When He moved even His disciples were astounded at His display of power, when God moves it is both thrilling and terrifying all at the same time!’What manner of man is this?’ they said. Their experience had given them a deeper faith and a deeper understanding of who Jesus was. And I want to encourage you today, your storm is almost over! Jesus is about to show up in your life and show everyone who He really is, He wants to take you deeper in faith and bring you to a place where you know Him more deeply and see Him in all of His beauty, power and majesty. That storm you are facing is no threat to Him or to His power, all He needs is for you not to give up. So please ,don’t give up, your storm is almost over! Jesus is about to move and stop it in it’s tracks!
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