The Trying of our Faith

Mark 4:35 – Mark 5:1

“Later that day, after it grew dark, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake”. After they had sent the crowd away, they shoved off from shore with him, as he had been teaching from the boat, and there were other boats that sailed with them. Suddenly, as they were crossing the lake, a ferocious tempest arose, with violent winds and waves that were crashing into the boat until it was all but swamped. But Jesus was calmly sleeping in the stern, resting on a cushion. So they shook him, saying, “ Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to die?!” Fully awake, he rebuked the storm and shouted to the sea, “Hush! Calm down!” All at once, the wind stopped howling and the water became perfectly calm. Then he turned to his disciples and said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Haven’t you learned to trust yet?” But they were overwhelmed with fear and awe, and said to one another,” Who is this man who has such authority that even the wind and waves obey him?” Then, they arrived at the other side of the lake….”
This storm in the book of Mark remind us as children of God that we are not exempt from the storms of life! We learn that storms, challenges, and disasters can crash into our lives even when we are near to Jesus, we may be doing nothing wrong and everything right, and we may even be in His perfect will… It still does not prevent us from the storms in this life! Interestingly, they shoved off the shore all the while Jesus knew the storm would come yet he did not prevent it. Remember the passage starts out saying “later that day, after it grew dark” …. He knew the storm was coming. He knew what the darkness would bring….and yet, He still did not prevent it or shield them from it. Why? First He (Jesus) knew that he would be in the boat with them and second, a life with no challenges or storms has no way of producing faith. Remember, in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that “we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory….” Growing in our faith is a process! It’s like anything else in our life, we must practice in order to attain the goal. Without the practice, there is no attaining the goal! If we never had to put our trust into action, we would never fully learn what true TRUST is!! So as we move through challenges and storms, we must remember that Jesus is in the boat with us! He is present! He is in control! Nothing surprises Him! He is not forgotten us or the plan he has for us! If we truly know and understand this, then we know that he will bring peace to every situation, no matter the challenge, no matter the storm, and we will land safely at HIS intended destination! Mark 5:1 tells us…”THEN (after the trying of their faith), they came to the other side of the lake. WE WILL MAKE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE…..JESUS SAID SO!!!!

Rest…..He is with us!!!