As the storm was coming, what must these individuals must have felt? Could it be fear that the boat would not contain them? God has a way of removing our fears and letting us know we can trust in him in every situation and circumstances. Do you?Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. - Matthew 8:22-24
Discipleship. Calls for Sudden Storms. I have read this scripture like many of you before, but as I was reading it now, it struck me in a different way. Jesus got into a boat and his disciples followed him. When they did, a storm came without warning upon them.
What struck me was this, if the disciples had not been following Jesus, would they have entered this storm? If they had decided to stay on the shore, they would have missed this experience of the storm on the water. While you and I might say, that is a good thing, let's look at it differently.
There was something that the disciples had to experience and see that needed them to be in the midst of the storm. Jesus needed to teach them something about themselves. He was going to teach them something they would not have gotten if they were still standing on the "safe" shores. Jesus needed them to leave the comfort of the shores and be on the boat in the midst of this storm.
They needed to be in this storm and Jesus needed to be "sleep". These factors were all part of what God was going to use to teach as well as show his power to the disciples.
Did you know that is true for us today. To be disciples of Christ we must be willing to follow him, even into the storms. We cannot try to be safe by staying on the shores because we don't want to face the sudden things that hit our lives.
Jesus wants us to follow him so that he can teach us something about our hearts and where we are in him. He want to use the "stormy" situations to grow us and help us to find just how sure our faith in him is.
Today Lord help us when we find ourselves in the midst of the sudden storms and you seem to be "sleep". Help us to learn what you want us to learn so that we can grow as well as experience the miracles that we will only experience if we have left the shores and gone into the "storms".
