Let us turn to our scripture taken from Luke 8:22-26 As we continue this morning message
22 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.
23 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.
24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.
26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.
Jesus is asleep in the storm and evidently has been asleep for a good while. Isn’t that strange? How could Jesus sleep through a storm? The disciples literally thought they were dying! Obviously the storm was not as big to Jesus as it was to the disciples!
I wonder: Do we sleep good when problems are consuming us? I don’t! When problems consume me, I have a hard time sleeping . . . So do you know what I do? I just lay awake until I fall asleep! I simple lie down and forget about the problems. I don’t have the time to be looking or thinking. I have to sleep to gather some strength for work. I have to have a clear mind when I step out my home. Lives matter and so you just turn the situation over to Jesus and leave it there with Him to figure out what to do with it. Some people said that the bills keep them awake, but you pay it off and few days after you get another bill from the same company. What will you do this time? The bills will keep coming so give God some praise and soon you will realize that the bills are not necessary. Just stop buying things tha don’t need and you will see the end of the bills. You will sleep better and the worries will be over.
The disciples interpreted this storm as something terrible! The fact is — They could not change their circumstances! There was absolutely nothing they could do about the storm! And that’s hard to deal with sometimes, isn’t it? Do you ever wish you could change your circumstances? I do! But we can’t. We may as well accept that! We need to realize that God doesn’t see the storm the way we see the storm. His interpretation is bigger than our storm. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
God sees the storm as a means of advancement. He uses storms of life to test us to help us get closer to Him. God uses the dark, scary, uncertain times of life as an opportunity for Him to demonstrate is power not ours, and for God to get the glory, not us. God wants to use our trials to get us a little closer to Him.
I wonder: When our “storm” starts to devastate us, do we want to take God’s interpretation of our storm? Or, do we want to just develop our own interpretation? When trouble comes down on us, do we carelessly say like some, “God doesn’t care or He’d do something for me!” But problems are sometimes just opportunities in “work clothes.” He’s testing our faith. We must not forget: Faith is taking God at His Word despite the circumstances. And faith is often claiming God’s promise in the midst of bad circumstances.
Like the disciples, we may be in a terrible “storm.” We may be so scared that we’re biting our nails off. But it’s good to know that God’s not biting His nails off . . . because His interpretation is bigger than our storm!
Your servant and brother,
+ Sir Godfrey Gregg
Archbishop and Presiding Prelate
Administrator and Apostolic Head
Follow me on Twitter @ArchbishopGregg@MysticPatriarch
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