I have not experienced Storm in Sea, watching that in Discovery channel is dreadful. Real life storm is not fun either. We learn many lessons through storms that we never would learn, if life were always calm. This is why God chooses to give us these storms to make us grow in our spiritual life. Luke 8:22-25 relates the miracle of Jesus, where he is in the eye of a storm, calming the storm at sea, these miracles have much to teach us (as they taught the disciples) about who Jesus is and what that means to us in the trials of life.
'One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” ' Luke 8:22-25
At the end of this brief passage, the disciples remark with awe, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” That is the question Luke wants us to consider: “Who is this?” The clear answer is
Jesus is the Lord
Colossians 1:16-17 'For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. '
The Bible Says the Heaven and Earth was created through him and for him Col 1:17 “….all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together”. We all know that Jesus is Lord and we can repeat the phrase easily. But we often do not really know him as Lord in the practical, daily situations we encounter. So the Lord often does for us what he did for the disciples.
The Lord led them into this storm
Luke says this Luke 8:22 'One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. '
Did Jesus know what he was getting them into? Surely he did. He knows all things and so he knew they would encounter this storm. Although the disciples were veteran fishermen who knew this lake, they probably didn’t anticipate the storm. It was one of those unexpected storms that hit that evening—unexpected to the disciples, but not to the Lord Jesus. It must have been quite a storm, because even these seasoned fishermen feared for their lives. But even though it was so terrible, the sovereign Lord led them directly into it!
Same like disciples we often get caught in the unexpected storm and say , “God did not create this trial, he has only allowed it”, Some of us say “Satan has created this trial, but God is always good why would God allow a trial to my life” , the answer to that is there in Bible when you look at Isaiah / Job’s life
Bible clearly affirms that God is both loving and sovereign. You will not derive any comfort in trials by denying God’s sovereignty. True, God may use Satan to bring trials, as He did in the case of Job. But God clearly states, Isaiah 45:6-7 'so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord , and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord , do all these things. '
For all the believers of Christ, satan can inflict trials only after the permission of Jesus. Job’s life is a good example of that. Job 1:12 'The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord . '
This storm hit the Disciples along with Christ. The fact is, As Christians we are not magically exempted from the storms of life. Just because you are in Jesus boat doesn’t mean its going to be smooth sailing. Christians are not exempt from trials. Some think, “Yes, that’s true. But I’m serving Christ.” They think that being committed earns them special protection from storms. But observe:
💡 Storms hit obedient believers who are serving Christ.
💡 Storms hit suddenly and without warning.
The Lord checked out and seemed to leave them alone in the storm
Luke 8:23 'As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. '
First we understood Jesus is the Lord, he lead the Disciples to the Storm and when we see the eye of the storm it appears that he had checked out from them “As they sailed, he fell asleep”
Many time we also feel that way, even though we walk closely we wonder where is the Lord ? we cry / Pray and call for help to feel has Jesus checked out of us and gone while we are left to suffer ?
In reality he is there in the eye of the storm, he’s always there, even though sometimes it feels he is not there but often he waits till the end to see how greatly we need him and how our need really is.
God’s promise gives us this comfort for us, he is there for us Hebrews 13:5 '… “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” '
When we become God’s children his love is there for us, he will never desert us or leave us alone in the midst of trial, Paul explains this well in Romans 8:38-39 'For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
Whenever you are in a storm, even though you may think at first that the Lord is not there, He is there! The first thing we must do in the storms of life is to affirm that Jesus is Lord, even over the storms.
Trusted Jesus is the Lord in Storms of Life
Exposure of Reality
We all can make diff expressions of who we are when we are not in the middle of storm. We act like we are mature / cool people etc.. But when the reality of trials come we show our real face, thats exactly how it was with the Disciples as well, even though they were seasoned fisherman. Luke 8:24 “'The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
They thought they all were going to drown. Just step back, if you think thru, Who was on board with them? God’s promised Messiah! Jesus, to think that they would drown in the sea is completely a naive though, But in their panic, the disciples had a distorted view of the problem.
💡 Storms reveal our distorted view of the problem.
A crisis shows us a side of ourselves where we are blind to - The Lord uses it to reveal new areas where we need to learn to trust him. We all must come to know our weakness so that we will rely on the Lord’s strength. Storms often show us things that we don’t see in calmer times.
Excessive Fears - The disciples feared for their life, not all fear is wrong, but Jesus rebuked the disciples because their fear was excessive. Some fear is useful because it leads us to take prudent caution for our safety. Sometimes fear makes us get into immediate action to save our own lives or the life of a loved one who is in danger. But fear is excessive and wrong when it causes us to panic and so focused on the problem that we cannot see God’s control over it, then we’re not trusting Him.
We try to solve our problem by figuring everything into the equation — except the supernatural power of Christ. In the midst of crisis, we often look only at the problem and we fail to see the marvellous person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Although Luke does not mention it, Mark’s account tells us that the disciples (I would guess, Peter) also said, “Lord, don’t You care that we’re perishing?” In a time of severe trial, it’s easy to doubt the Lord’s loving care for us. That’s why, by faith, we must always affirm two things in our trials: God’s sovereignty and His love. His love makes us stronger and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:9-10 'Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. '
Storms should drive us to trust in the Lord of the storm.
When the Disciples called for help, he asked “Where is your faith?” What they needed most in this dire situation was to trust in the living God.
But trusting God in a crisis is not useless advice! It is what has sustained the saints in many horrible trials down through the centuries. If you don’t know how to trust God in the storms of life, you need to learn because we are commanded to walk by faith and to be built up in faith Colossians 2:6-7 'So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. '
💡 The better we know the Lord, the better we can trust Him.
Not only is our Lord fully human, He is also fully divine. He merely had to speak the word and the howling winds ceased and the surging waves were instantly stopped. Nothing is too difficult for the living God. Not a breath of wind or a drop of water can defy his sovereign will.
💡 The better we know Him, the better we can trust Him in our trials.
💡 The more we trust Him in this storm, the more we will know Him and be able to trust Him in the next storm
This storm revealed the glory of Christ in a way that would have been hidden had it not happened. The disciples got a glimpse of his majestic power, that “He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him..”
Many times we are so focused to solve the problem of our life and always see our view of problem and miss out on the greatness of God’s work. God allows the storms of life to make his Sovereignty known to his children and be awestruck with his wonders like how the Disciples reacted here..
Faith in the Lord is not an automatic thing. Many times our situation ahead of us will make us wonder if our faith is futile nothing going in the way we expect or planned. Thats the point where God looks at our faith to see how we react to the situations of life.
Summary
I don’t know what life storm you are going thru right now. Like the disciples you may wonder if Jesus really cares for you.
Be assured that “Jesus is the Lord” he cares for you.
He knows your storms. He is watching if your eyes are on the storm or on him, he will reach and help you, but he will do that only if you call on him like how the disciples did ““Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
The more you know him the better you can trust him, to know more on how he can help, you need to know his promises and his words to lead you, that can happen only if you are close to God by reading his word (Bible) and he talking to you and you talking to him thru prayer, the relationship with Jesus has to be intimate, for him to help you when you call him “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
The storms of your life is not about your challenges and your story, its more of God’s Sovereignty thru the trials you go thru, how he has solved that and lead thru, you take every event in Old testament (Job’s life struggle / Leading the Israel in Wilderness ) or New testament (Jesus calming the Storm / Healing the Sick) . There will be a Sovereign plan of God you will see, that’s the reason for the storm of life.
Once you understand the Sovereignty, it helps you to mature more in spiritual life, it helps you develop a more intimate relationship with Jesus and produces the awe of how the disciple's experienced and will make you ask “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”, this will prepare you for the bigger storms of life to experience the awe of Jesus even bigger..
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