This is a timely post for me personally...And I'm sure a lot of us can relate to it!
We seem to live in a world of...Worry!
Wars, diseases, sicknesses, politics, taxes, finances, fighting, hatred, terrorism...You name it. Just turn on social media and scroll your feed, you can see it all around. And thankfully, we have some 'emergency numbers' that we can rely on when it comes to...Worry!
In today's #bible911 post, I wanted to take a closer look at the story we find in Matthew 8:23-27.
The 'emergency number' graphic shows more verses than I want to go over. I just want to focus on this one quick story that has always been such a powerful example of taking worry and throwing it in the sea....
Do you see where I'm going yet?
In this story, we find Jesus and His disciples on a boat in the middle of the sea. Christ was actually asleep on the boat and there was a storm starting to brew. You could almost picture His disciples...
"So yeah, that storm looks pretty bad...Don't you think Jesus?" - Peter
"Jesus? Jesus? Oh wow, He's sleeping..." - John
"We need to wake Him up, or else we're going to die!!" - Andrew
"Oh wow, look at those waves! This is getting so bad....JESUS!!!!!!" - Peter
You could almost see Christ rubbing His eyes, and without even looking at the waves just shaking His head...
In one simple verse we see so much. First we see Christ almost disappointed in His disciples for a moment. But He really doesn't hold it against them. But He's still frustrated that everything these men have seen with their own eyes, they still doubt.
Then with a quick rebuke, Christ stops the waves and the sea is calm. Which gets rid of the fear and worry in His disciples.
Think about this for a second. A mere few words, and Christ relieves the worry within his closest friends. A few words!
The worry is gone, when we give it all to Christ. This is beyond a hope and prayer, this is the true example of faith. When examples like this comes up in Scripture and I'm even having a hard time with my faith I think of Hebrews 11:1...
Look at this verse in context to the experience the disciples had in the boat.
The substance of things hoped for was....Not dying!
The evidence of things not seen was at that moment...Christ rebuking the sea and saving them!
They woke Christ up because they knew He could do something. Or they HOPED He could. And we know in Scripture that not only can He, but He does!
That's faith!
That's why worry and anxiety, while prevalent in everyday life, should be nowhere near a Christian. We serve a risen Savior. Who will rebuke the wind when we need Him to. He's not 'asleep at the wheel', He always knows what we need. He just needs us to trust Him!
How is your faith when it comes to worry, anxiety and doubt?