The way life is!

Matthew 10:16-23

16 "Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove. 17 "Don't be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation-- just because you believe in me. 18 Don't be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they've done you-- and me-- a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! 19 And don't worry about what you'll say or how you'll say it. The right words will be there; 20 the Spirit of your Father will supply the words. 21" When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. 22 There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don't quit. Don't cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. 23 It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you've run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.

Food for the soul!

What is it that you get from this Jesus' training? What is it that Jesus is telling his chosen people of yesterday and today, you and me, if not that life is not meant to be easy? That life and living is hard even for those that Jesus has chosen.

Jesus is training is training us for THE WAY LIFE IS. Jesus is saying that life is just as insecure as sheep running through a wolf pack. Imagine that! Despite this, Jesus is also saying that GOD IS IN CHARGE. God being in charge does not mean a suspension of THE WAY LIFE IS. The lion or crocodile will always eat meat, even of humans. God will not change that. Women will always feel pain in child birth. God will not change that. We will always feel sad when our dear ones die. God will not change that because this is THE WAY LIFE IS, the way life is; life is difficult, at best!

God's care is not to be seen as rescue FROM the way life is. It is rather guidance THROUGH the way life is. God does not save us from getting into trouble, He empowers us to go through trouble: "Don't be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they've done you and me a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don't worry about what you'll say or how you'll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words."

Yesterday, Jesus taught us that we are bound to fail sometimes. For that reason, continues Jesus, we can't be naive nor take things for granted. We have to stay alert 24/7, like sheep running through a wolf pack. Such sheep can't call attention to themselves, other wise they are eaten; imagine yourself going through a park of lions or crocodiles... you would not call attention to yourself, but would have to be as cunning (discreet) as a snake, inoffensive as a dove. This is how Jesus wants us to live this life, 24/7.

Learn to win and to loose, to succeed and to fail!

Matthew 10:7-15

7 And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand! 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give. 9 Take no gold nor silver nor [even] copper money in your purses (belts); 10 And do not take a provision bag or a wallet for a collection bag for your journey, nor two undergarments, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the workman deserves his support (his living, his food). 11 And into whatever town or village you go, inquire who in it is deserving, and stay there [at his house] until you leave [that vicinity]. 12 As you go into the house, give your greetings and wish it well. 13 Then if indeed that house is deserving, let come upon it your peace [that is, freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin]. But if it is not deserving, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive and accept and welcome you nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or town, shake the dust [of it] from your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Food for the soul!

Yesterday, Jesus chose his team. He is the team leader, he guides it, he gives them instructions. Under him, the team of ordinary people became a team of extraordinary people. As we said yesterday, Jesus chose these men, not only for what they were, but also for what they were capable of becoming under his influence and guidance. Yes, under Jesus you and I can become different and can make a difference in the world. The question is, do you see yourself different, and are you making any difference around you?

Today's gospel reading shows us how very ordinary people like you and me became different and made difference in the world. Their secret was in their instructor; their secret was Jesus. Before they succeeded in the WORLD, they first succeeded in listening to the WORD of Jesus.

Jesus warns us to expect both success and failure in our endeavours. Whatever comes, and whenever it comes take it. If success comes your way, take it; if it is failure take it and move on; don't hold on your past successes or failures; keep going forward. Jesus is teaching us that problems and failures are inevitable in the life of anyone who seeks to make a difference in life. Even with all instructions from Jesus, even with all academic degrees and titles, even with all experience, we are bound to fail sometimes. And Jesus knows it. That's why he teaches his disciples not only how to win but also how to loose. 

Jesus is saying to us, when we loose, not to dwell too long on the loss and allow it to rob our lives of enthusiasm and joy. So we must learn to shake off the dust of yesterday’s failure from ourselves, otherwise it will cling to us and stop us from moving on. The result is depression and despair, and giving up on life and living. Let's move on to new village, to new project, to new opportunities. 

And whoever will not receive and accept and welcome you nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or town, shake the dust [of it] from your feet.

We need Jesus but also Jesus needs us!

Matthew 10:1-7

JESUS summoned to Him His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of weakness and infirmity. 2 Now these are the names of the twelve apostles (special messengers): first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew [Nathaniel]; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus [Judas, not Iscariot]; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. 5 Jesus sent out these twelve, charging them, Go nowhere among the Gentiles and do not go into any town of the Samaritans; 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand!

Food for the soul

This passage is special because when we look at the kind of men Jesus chose and used in those days, it gives us hope in these days of ours. If Jesus can use men like these in the manner that he did, then surely he can use you and me in these days. With the Twelve, Jesus set a precedent, that we all have a place in his service. It is not only we that need Jesus, he also needs us!

There are two facts about these men which are bound to strike us at once.

(i) They were very ordinary men. They had no wealth; they had no academic background; they had no social position. They were chosen from the common people, men who did the ordinary things, men who had no special education, men who had no social advantages.

Jesus looks not so much for extraordinary people as for ordinary people who can do ordinary things extraordinarily well. Jesus sees in each one of us, not only what we can do through him but also what he can do through us. Jesus chose the Twelve disciples not only for what they were, but also for what they were capable of becoming under his influence and in his power. Yes, under Jesus you and I can become different and can make a difference in the world.

(ii) They were the most extraordinary mixture. There was, for instance, Matthew, the tax-gatherer. And with Matthew there was Simon the Cananaean. Luke (Lk.6:16) calls him Simon Zelotes, which means Simon the Zealot. Zealots were the opposite of Matthew, fanatic, comparable today to suicide bombers. If Simon the Zealot had met Matthew the tax-gatherer anywhere else than in the company of Jesus, he would have thrown a bomb at him. Here is the tremendous truth that people who hate each other can learn to live and love each other when they both love Jesus. Jesus not only brings us together, he also keeps us together.

Character assassins!

Matthew 9:32-37

When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed. But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.”

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.

Food for thought!

Have you ever been misrepresented? Has anyone ever taken your words and works and twisted them around and used them against you? Have you ever done something good, with good intentions, which was misinterpreted as bad? Have you ever been attacked, slandered and envied for doing good? This is what is happening to Jesus. He has done something good, he has healed a man, and his enemies are not happy; because they were helpless to oppose him by fair means, they resorted to slander and to character assassination. 

And this character assassination of Jesus was not always from pagans. It was from the religious people of his day, the Pharisees! They hated Him and they hated everything He said and did. They despised Him so much that they actually plotted to have Him killed, Mark 3:6. Things have not changed much today.

These men will do anything to kill Jesus. They begin by killing his good name, his character, his fame. They begin by saying, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.” If this charge sticks, they can undermine His ministry with the people and draw away His crowds.

It is easy to attack people you don’t agree with. You don’t need facts; just make a few wild accusations and people who are not attentive will take the bait. When that takes place, as it so often does, a life, a reputation, a family, or a ministry is destroyed. Beware that you are not in the business of slandering others. When you do, you are truly doing the work of the devil. You are the real agent of the devil. He is a people destroyer (1Pet. 5:8), and he loves to enlist others in the destruction business!

We offend God the author of all goodness, when we call goodness as evil. Have you ever noticed that if and when we like someone, we tend to like everything they do? And if and when we dislike someone, we will dislike everything they do, even the good they do? The Pharisees hated Jesus and attributed his miracle to the power of the devil in him. It was a cruel, heartless attack. Why would they say something so foolish and so cruel against someone so innocent and so holy as Jesus? 

There is nothing so cruel as slander, for it is apt to stick because the human mind always tends to think the worst and very often the human ear prefers to hear the derogatory rather than the complimentary tale. We need not think that we are free of that particular sin. How often do we think the worst of other people? How often do we believe those who misrepresent others? How often do we ourselves misrepresent others? How often? Lord, save us from evil talk.

Your faith has saved you!

Matthew 9:18-26

While Jesus was speaking, up came one of the officials, who bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’ Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him. Then from behind him came a woman, who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.’ Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.’ And from that moment the woman was well again.

  

When Jesus reached the official’s house and saw the flute-players, with the crowd making a commotion he said, ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep.’ And they laughed at him. But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took the little girl by the hand; and she stood up. And the news spread all round the countryside.

Food for thought!

I invite you to meditate on the words, "Your faith has restored you to health." We have heard these words many times, and have often read them (Your faith has saved you!). These words still deserve our attention. But first, let's note that, in the gospel, both the man and the woman came to Jesus at the end. He came to Jesus at the end of his daughter's life. The woman came to Jesus at the end of 12 years of suffering. Yes, sometimes it takes a tragedy before we come to the Lord.

All this means that when we find ourselves at “The End,” it is actually the beginning; the tragedy that is trying to finish us can be the very thing that is meant to jump start us. When we feel as though our life is falling apart, we’ll find that through our faith in God, it’s really just beginning to fall into place. You see, it’s the very thing that brings us to our knees that will give us the opportunity to finally see God. It’s through our suffering that God is drawing us nearer. 

Our problems can either take us away from the Lord, or to the Lord. If we look at them with the eyes of faith, those same problems will take us to the Lord. And that is what Jesus normally refers to as, "Your faith has saved you!" 

The death of his daughter brought the official to Jesus; the haemorrhage brought the woman to Jesus. Your tragedy should bring you to Jesus. Know this: God is with you when you call out to Him and when you do not. Don’t abandon your faith in God when hardships and sufferings come into your life— that’s exactly what Satan wants you to do. Your adversary wants you to turn your back on God and walk away from your faith. If you abandon God in your times of trial, you’re giving Satan the victory he seeks.

Storms of life are used by God to strengthen our faith in Him. He’s asking us to step out in faith like the man and woman of today's gospel did: the man came to Jesus and bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’ The woman too came and touched the fringe of Jesus' cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.’

Our Yoke-Mate is Jesus!

Matthew 11:25-30

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

Food for thought!

Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.

Looks like we have a problem here! Is Jesus calling on those who are carrying heavy loads to come and add a yoke to their burden? Doesn’t that sound like adding affliction to the afflicted? What is this yoke of Christ? 

So, let's try to understand the yoke of Christ. Among the Jews the yoke was put on the necks of two cattle so that together they could pull the plough as one. A yoke is for two cattle in bearing one burden or drawing one load. In other words, it always takes a pair to work a yoke. When Jesus asks you to take the yoke, you might as well ask him who is your yoke-mate. Your yoke-mate is none other than Jesus himself. That is why he says: "Shoulder my yoke." 

What Jesus is saying is inviting you and me to join him, to team up with him. The yoke of Christ is not just a yoke from Christ but also a yoke with him. To take the yoke of Christ is to associate and identify ourselves with him: associate our suffering with his suffering. In our moments of overwhelming circumstances, when burdens of life and living seem far too much for us to bear, Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will help you to carry the burdens." 

Let's know that we are not pulling the yoke alone and by our power but together with Christ and by the strength that comes from him. It is to know that Jesus is not just a teacher who gives you homework but also a friend who helps you do it. Remember: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens [carries] me (Philippians 4:13). Yes, we can do ALL things through Christ. ALL things. Nothing is excluded from all. Nothing is left out of that equation, that promise; there’s no end to it, nothing outside of it. All is all. 

Jesus calls us to greater purposes, suffering for the sake of others, allowing our pain to be someone else’s gain. He invites us to help others who are overburdened by their life and living. Let's be others yoke-mates, helping them to carry their burdens, as Jesus does help us to carry ours.

There is a story of a man who had a dream. In the dream he was walking along a sandy beach with Jesus and they were replaying all the important moments of his life. The man noticed that for each scene there were two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him and the other to Jesus. But he also noticed that when they came to the most difficult and trying moments of his life there were only one set of footprints to be seen. The man could not understand this, so he asked Jesus: “Lord, you said that once I decide to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. Why is it then that during the most difficult periods of my life, when I needed you the most, you would leave me?” Jesus replied. “My child, I love you and I would never leave you. During the most difficult moments of your life, when you see only one set of footprints, those were the times I carried you.”

We should never forget that we are yoked with Christ. To this end, it helps to start each day with a prayer like this: “Lord, help me to remember that there is no problem I am going to face today that you and I together cannot handle.” This is how the yoke becomes easy and the burden light.

We should likewise note that Jesus is inviting the weary and the heavy-laden. He isn’t just talking about those who are tired. Not doing anything can make us tired; we don’t need to exert ourselves to be tired. Weariness comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes, so when Jesus speaks of weariness, He’s including every unsatisfied soul. No matter what it is that is making you weary, come to Him. Whoever you are, whatever you’re going through, come to Jesus.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31)

Follow Me into your house, your company, your Facebook!

Matthew 9:9-13

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Food for thought!

In today's gospel reading there is an interesting detail. When Jesus met Matthew, he told him, "Follow me!" and Matthew got up and followed Jesus. The gospel does not tell us where the two went; it doesn't tell us where that Follow Me led them. 

This said, we can guess that they went straight to Matthew's house. This is so because immediately after the phrase "...and Matthew got up and followed him", the next sentence mentions Matthew's house: "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house...". It means that Jesus must have told Matthew: Follow Me into your house! He literally told him to follow him into his family, into his circle, into his friends, into his company, into his Facebook!

And when Jesus got into Matthew's house, family, friends, facebook, he found all kinds of people. The gospel says that "many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him." These people were for sure Matthew's close friends and company; they were Matthew's circle; they couldn't just not come.

Btw, who are your friends, who are your company, who are your facebook people? What kind of people are they? Are you like them? Are they like you? Remember that when people act the same, they hang out together. People that have the same morals often tend to group. Birds of the same feather flock together. Your friends are like you, and you must be like your friends. Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are.

It is consoling to learn that Jesus' friends and company and family and facebook is full of sinful people; Jesus is not afraid to keep company of the sick, the despised, the lonely, the weird, etc: "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? ... It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Unless I experience Jesus personally I won't believe!

John 20:24-29

24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Food for thought! 

Thomas' experience helps us to understand that there are some things in life you just have to experience for yourself, otherwise they will not make any sense. One of these is Jesus. Jesus does not make much sense until you experience him personally. Worse still, you cannot borrow the experience of Jesus. 

We can listen to sermons about Jesus, and we can read all the books on Jesus, and not experience him. Jesus can only be experienced personally. And this is what Thomas was demanding. That's what he meant when he said: "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." Notice the "I" and "my" and "I" and "my." What Thomas is saying is that unless I experience PERSONALLY Jesus I will not believe? 

And this is what Jesus tells Thomas. Jesus knows that Thomas' problem is realism. That is why Jesus teaches him and us that, "In order to experience me, if you want to have a personal encounter with me, BELIEVE first." Thomas thought the opposite; he thought that we experience Jesus first, then we believe. Jesus says, it is the opposite. Believe first and you will be blessed with my presence and experience. Because they're BLESSED indeed who believe without seeing.

All of this tells us this fact: faith is having a positive outlook, is looking at life positively. When you get any challenge as you do, any problem, crisis as you do, believe, that is, be positive that something good will come out of it. That is the faith, which will transform your helplessness into hopefulness.

From mad-men to made-men!

Mat 8:28-34

28 They landed in the country of the Gadarenes and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. 29 Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, "What business do you have giving us a hard time? You're the Son of God! You weren't supposed to show up here yet!" 30 Off in the distance a herd of pigs was browsing and rooting. 31 The evil spirits begged Jesus, "If you kick us out of these men, let us live in the pigs." 32 Jesus said, "Go ahead, but get out of here!" Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. 33 Scared to death, the swineherds bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs. 34 Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.

Food for thought!

Jesus has many ways of teaching us, very many ways, indeed. What is it that Jesus is teaching us this time? He is teaching us that there's nothing he cannot do to save us; that there's nothing to compare in value to our souls; that we could never compare the value of a herd of swine with the value of a man's immortal soul. Now we understand why Jesus did not spare himself to save us. He knows our value, and unfortunately we don't. 

Do you know of someone in a helplessness or hopelessness situations, or even yourself? Do you know someone who has given up on life and living? Well, today Jesus proves to you and me that for him there's no hopeless or helpless people or human situation. The gospel says: "The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore." These two men were a danger to everybody including themselves; they had given up on themselves, just as had the people of the region. This is why they lived in a limbo; living people living among the dead!

Jesus performed that miracle thinking of such people like you and me. If you believe in Jesus, as I think you do, why give in to despair? Let Jesus restore your sanity, your holiness, your humanity, your relationship, your life as he did the two men. He will transform your hopelessness and helplessness into hopefulness and helpfulness; he will transform you from a madman or madwoman to a mademan or madewoman.

The supreme tragedy of this story lies in its conclusion. Those who were herding the pigs ran back to the town and told the story; and the result was that the people of the town forced Jesus to leave their territory at once: "A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back." 

Here is human selfishness at its worst. It did not matter to these people that two men had been given back their sanity, their wholness, their life. All that mattered to the villagers were their pigs that had perished. It is so often the case that we say in effect, "I don't care what happens to anyone else, if my profits and my comfort and my ease and my interests and my business are preserved. I don't care what happens to you as long as I am fine. I don't care what happens to others as long as my business thrives, as long as I make money." We may be condemn the villagers for their insensibility, but we must be careful that we too do not put profit over people. 

You of little faith, why are you so afraid?

Matthew 8:23-27

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Food for thought!

In the Bible nothing happened without a purpose; and nothing was written by chance. Everything in the Bible has a message. This miracle is full of messages. The first message is that the disciples of Jesus were not exempt from a test of faith and neither are we. Many of us think: I’m too loving, too giving, too faithful, too loyal, too obedient , too prayerful, too dedicated to God. Besides, I go to church on Sunday! But despite all of this, we find ourselves in the midst of storms of life; we find ourselves dazed and confused, wondering how we got there and how to get out.

We look at the storms of our lives and too often, ask, “If God is so loving, why does He allow pain and suffering in my life? What have I done to deserve being a victim in this circumstance? Why do I need to go through this storm? Why can’t He just take me around it? I want out and NOW!”

God’s incredible love for us does not eliminate the pain, suffering, and heartache that we might go through. However, God's Promises assure us that He is with us, and He is using it all for good (Romans 8:28). Through it all, we learn to trust that no matter how devastating the storm might be… God is with us. And if we trust and obey Him, He will strengthen us and fill us with hope in the midst of the storm.

Just think about the fact that the Disciples were in a boat, with who they supposedly believed was the Son of God; yet, even they failed to acknowledge Him, until it was almost too late. They were about to die! Why didn’t it occur to them to ask for Jesus’ help sooner? The answer seems so obvious. In our own storms of life, it’s often difficult to see the “obvious.” Our vision becomes clouded with debilitating doubt and paralyzing fear.

The Disciples were truly the closest men to the Son of God; yet, at the end of this miracle we see that even they had doubts in their heart about who Jesus really was. They saw with their own eyes all of the miracles He performed, but they still asked, “Who is this man?” A little surprising… don’t you think?

It should be comforting to know that although God allows the storm, Jesus is in the boat with you, with me. Yes, He is with you, right now, in the boat where you sit in the midst of your storm . The difference is: He is in the stern resting because He wants you and me to learn to rest in our storms. 

The purpose of our storms, simply put, is all about our relationship with Jesus. It’s all about our faith in God.