The amazed disciples were saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” (v. 25).
Where was their faith? They had enough to get into the boat with Jesus and follow Him. Yes, getting into a fishermen’s boat was their safety zone. They had done that hundreds of times. They had also ridden out a few bad storms in their lifetime.
Why were they not exercising their faith in Him at this time?
Our faith in God has to be exercised personally. It refuses to be controlled by the fierce storms in life. It refuses to panic when the going gets tough and beyond our comfort. We have to focus our faith on Him.
The thing that moved Jesus in this account was not the violent storm, but the lack of faith of the disciples. “Why are you timid, you men of little faith?” (Matt. 8:26).
With Jesus in our boat we should have courage to face the storms by faith in Him. Christ is always in the boat. Jesus is praying that we will have strong faith in Him (Lk. 22:31-32).
The things that hinder our faith are doubt, rationalizations, anxiety, lack of courage, etc. Faith is volitional. It is a choice I make.
Our faith has to be tested before it can be trusted. God allowed a violent storm to test the disciples. Jesus entrusted His safety to the Father. The disciples trusted in their own competence as professional fishermen. “Their unbelief was more dangerous than the storm.” It takes God to change the weather.
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006. http://www.abideinchrist.com
Used with permission.
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