Coming Through The Storm

"Coming Through The Storm"

"Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy." Luke 8:22,23

Life is a lot like weather.  You can be going through life experiencing sunshine- no problems, no cares, everything is well in your relationships, your health, your finances, etc.- then all of a sudden the “clear” day turns “stormy”.  And vice versa- you might be going through difficulties and all of a sudden the “sun” is shiny again and all is well.  There is a story in the New Testament that illustrates this fact well.  It is the story of the disciples who were in the boat when the storm came.  They were experiencing "smooth sailing" then all of a sudden a storm that threatened to drown them arose. 

 There were four things that I discovered from this story that have helped me to handle the storms that rage in my life from time to time.  I want to share them with you.

1)  Remember that you are not alone in the storm.  “And he was in the hinder part of the ship.”  Often it may seem as if you are going through the difficulty alone.  You may even wonder where the Lord is.  You might wonder if He even sees what you are going through.  It may feel like He is a million miles away on the other side of the universe.  He isn’t.  He is right there with you.  He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you.  (Hebrews 13:5)

2)  Don’t forget who it is that is with you in the storm.  Jesus was in the boat- but He was not just another man or another one of the disciples, He was God Himself in the flesh.  The Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God was right beside them.  The very One who calls the stars by name and created the universe by the words of His mouth was in the storm with them. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:12,14) 

3)  Don’t hesitate to ask the Lord for help. How many times do we try to solve our own problems before we go to God and ask for His help.  We tend to put Him at the bottom of the list of resources.  We usually wait and go to Him only after we have exhausted everything else that we thought might work.  "They were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish." (Luke 8:23,24a)  

4)  Put your trust and faith in the Lord.  "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" (v.40)  It's one thing to acknowledge His presence and remember just who He is when you are in the storm, but it has to go one step further.  You must put your faith in Him-- in the fact that He will do what He says He will do.  Jesus told them when they got into the boat that they were going to the other side.  He never said anything about drowning.  Jesus was going to the other side of the lake in obedience to God’s will- He had a purpose to fulfill.  He had a divine appointment in Gadara awaiting Him.  The enemy sent a storm to try to stop Jesus, but to no avail.  The enemy may fight you.  He may try to stop you from fulfilling God’s will in your life.  The situation you find yourself in may look impossible.  All hell may come against you.  Trials may arise.  But if God says something, regardless of what comes your way, His word will always prevail.  If He said they were going to the other side, ten storms could have come up on the lake but they would have passed through all ten and reached the other side.  God’s word is more powerful than the storms that try to destroy you.  It is greater than the enemy who tries to stop you.  Heaven and earth will pass away but His word will always remain.  “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” (Mark 13:31)  

Have a great day.  If we will remember and put into practice these four things that we learn from this story, we too will safely arrive at our intended destination- regardless of the storms.