Circuit Thoughts

Mark 4:35-41 has a remarkably interesting story; Jesus tells the disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side of Lake Galilee, (or sea of Galilee if you prefer.) So, they get into the boat and Jesus goes to the front, sits down, gets comfortable and goes to sleep. Suddenly a storm whips up. The disciples, knowing the cruelty of the wind are afraid. Water is getting into the boat; it’s starting to swamp, and Jesus is fast asleep.

Finally, the boys go over and wake him up. They shout to him, “Don’t you care that we are dying?” The first thing Jesus does is look around and shout, “PEACE, BE STILL!” And all went calm.

Then, he looked at the boys and said,” Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

How many times have we faced a storm in our lives, and shaken our fist at God and shouted out, “Don’t you care?” After all the Sunday School lessons and all the blessings and the good times, when the road gets rough, how quickly do we turn into these disciples and yell, “Don’t you care”.

Well, guess what, that’s okay. You see, we, a fallen people, living in a fallen world. We are not in the garden of Eden, nor are we in paradise. We live a limited life on the third rock from the sun. We do the best we can, and God knows this.

He knows the problems and he knows we fall into fear. Many saints have fallen short on faith in times of trial. That’s how I know that God still cares. You see, he brings us through the storms, even when we are standing there blaming him. God is love, and that love never fails.

The thing about storms is they do not last forever. In every storm, God says, “Peace be still”. Now the storm may not end when we want it to, but it does end, and God is right there beside us through it all.

You noticed that Jesus didn’t get out of the boat, he just calmed the storm. I believe that for that brief moment, every storm in the universe stopped and the universe was at peace. That is why the disciples were so amazed. Everything was at peace.

That it is the way it can be for us. Faith and prayer is what it takes to get through the storms of life. Now, just because you question God doesn’t mean you have lost faith. I mean, think about, if you lost faith, why would you even question that which you do not believe. We question God because we know he is there.

We will doubt at times, even the greatest faith leaders doubted. But doubting is not a loss of faith, it is just seeking confirmation, and rest assured, God will confirm your faith in his time.

If you are needing that confirmation, I am sure your pastor will be willing to help you and pray with you. Go to them, that is what they are there for.

See you in church.