January 11

What Kind Of Man Is This?

MATTHEW 8:18-27
vs25 “And they went and awakened Him, saying, Lord, rescue and preserve us! We are perishing”
vs27 “The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him”

The first thing that I see is that most of these disciples were raised on this sea and had fished it for years…they no doubt had been thru countless storms, but in this case they all thought they were going to die, it was so severe. They were frantic.

Ever been in a storm of life and it seemed like God was sleeping? “Where are you, Lord? Don’t you know what’s going on? Don’t you care?” The disciples went to Jesus and said, Lord, save us: we perish. It’s one of the shortest prayers in the Bible. And when we’re in trouble, we cut down on the long, fancy prayers and ramblings and get right down to business. It happened when Peter walked on the water and took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the storm and began to go under, but then he prayed his famous three word prayer “Lord, save me!”

There’s a contradiction in that prayer the disciples prayed, “Lord, save us” is the language of faith. “We perish” is the language of fear. Now, isn’t that just like us humans? Trying to have faith and fear at the same time. Spiritual opposites! Faith and fear cannot live in the same heart at the same time. When you are looking at the storm you are filled with fear but when looking to Jesus you are filled with faith!

What’s your first impulse in a storm? Run to a friend? That’s not entirely bad if they will give you Godly counsel, but it’s not the first response you should have. The disciples went to Jesus first, and so should we. Character is revealed in the storm. The storms of life will either draw you closer to the Lord or further away, but no one will emerge on the other side of the storm the same as they went in. Either you will become bitter or better!

Fear is looking at God thru your circumstances. Faith is looking at your circumstances thru God!

Be Blessed!
Shaun