#16: IMMANUEL IN OUR STORMS

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Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping with His head on a pillow. The disciples woke Him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?” Mark 4:38.

The common story of how Jesus showed Himself to be LORD over even the seas, and the winds, and storms, was in fact the product of unbelief from the disciples. When Jesus woke up and calmed the storm, he turned to His disciples and said “why are you so frightened, have you still no faith?” (vs 40) Actually if you look at our anchor text, you should begin to wonder, “but was it not because of their faith in Christ’s saving power that prompted them to call on Him in the midst of the storm?” It therefore means that they ought not to have gone through all those troubles of getting him from his sleeping place. Jesus was trying to tell them that if indeed they had faith on Him, then knowing that He was In the boat was enough to make them to be assured of a safe landing. God is an All Knowing God, so the fact that He is the one that initiated the boat ride to the other side of the land (vs 35) indicated that He also knew that a storm was coming. In other words, He had everything under control. I can imagine why our LORD was disappointed when he calmed the storm. It is as though the initial plan was not to calm the storm. It was to be with them in the [as Immanuel] storm, and comfort them to the shore [where joy shall not cease].

Jesus has not promised us a jolly ride in this world. But He has assured us that He has overcome the world, and it is in this victory that we live in peace in the world (John 16:33). In our walk and work with God, there may be several moments when God will want to take us further in intimacy with Him. He will wants us to take His silence as an assurance that He is still with us. When Jesus heard that Lazarus died, He didn’t go immediately, He more or less kept mute over the case. When God called Abraham, Abraham became the source of blessing to the whole world because, He always saw Immanuel in the boat, and that was enough for him. God may have initiated a journey with Him, and at some point He appears seemingly sleeping with His head on a pillow over your situation; the charge for us this week is that the only cause for alarm should arise if and only if Immanuel is not in the boat. And as Christians we have to deliberately check every day that we have not left Jesus behind and stray on our own. God actually cares that you are about to “die” in the storm, but He is in your storm to comfort you to the end. Some of us like the disciples want God to always calm the storm. Even if He does, have it at the back of your mind that heaven is mourning over your lack of faith in Immanuel.

REFLECTION: Lord, thank you for revealing Yourself to me as Immanuel. I am very sorry for asking amiss all along. I acknowledge my lack of faith in you in many occasions. I pray that you constantly minister comfort to me as I pass through the storms of life. Help me to keep trusting you, even when you are seemingly silent. Amen.

Happy New month
Happy Sunday

Written by Didi

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