Faith In God, Not The Boat
April 8, 2016
Mark 4:38-40 “38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
When I read this story of the disciples and Jesus in a boat in the middle of a storm, I am always struck by how the disciples are panicking and Jesus is sleeping. That Jesus is sleeping through the storm is not evidence of His not caring. It is evidence of His calm assurance that God’s power is greater than the storm. The disciples panicked because their source of security was in the boat, and it was sinking. Jesus had peace because His source of security was found in the Father’s love and power. He knew that God’s power to save them in the storm was far greater than the storm’s power to destroy them. There was a lady in the community who was well-known for her simple faith and great calm in the midst of the many storms that had come in her life. Another woman, who had never met this woman of great faith and who was in the midst of a big emotional storm herself, wanted to find out the source of the other lady’s calm and strength. When she met her she said, “So you are the woman with the great faith that I have heard so much about.” “Oh, no!” came the reply. “I am not the woman with the great faith. But I am the woman with a little faith in a great God.” There was a lady who knew a great God whose power to save her was greater than the storm’s power to destroy her. God doesn’t shield us from the storms of life, but God’s power will support us when the storms do come. That would be a good thing to remember today.
Tim Thompson, Senior Pastor
When I read this story of the disciples and Jesus in a boat in the middle of a storm, I am always struck by how the disciples are panicking and Jesus is sleeping. That Jesus is sleeping through the storm is not evidence of His not caring. It is evidence of His calm assurance that God’s power is greater than the storm. The disciples panicked because their source of security was in the boat, and it was sinking. Jesus had peace because His source of security was found in the Father’s love and power. He knew that God’s power to save them in the storm was far greater than the storm’s power to destroy them. There was a lady in the community who was well-known for her simple faith and great calm in the midst of the many storms that had come in her life. Another woman, who had never met this woman of great faith and who was in the midst of a big emotional storm herself, wanted to find out the source of the other lady’s calm and strength. When she met her she said, “So you are the woman with the great faith that I have heard so much about.” “Oh, no!” came the reply. “I am not the woman with the great faith. But I am the woman with a little faith in a great God.” There was a lady who knew a great God whose power to save her was greater than the storm’s power to destroy her. God doesn’t shield us from the storms of life, but God’s power will support us when the storms do come. That would be a good thing to remember today.
Tim Thompson, Senior Pastor