S116P7 – Difficult truths: the disciples of Christ

Lk. 8:22-25

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

I had not been a Christian very long when the leader of our men’s small group announced that he would be getting married and moving about an hour away.  His announcement was not to tell us that the group would be disbanding but that he was looking for one of us to step up and become the new leader.  Actually, he was wondering if I would fill that role.  Considering my newness to Christianity and my lack of biblical knowledge, I hesitated before accepting.  It would not be the last time that God would present me with an opportunity that I did not completely believe He could equip me for.  Even today, I sometimes find myself doubting that He will get me through that to which He calls me.

It is clear to me now that this early teaching opportunity was God setting the groundwork for so much more to come.  I look at how much He has used these challenges to develop me, and I wonder how I ever could doubt that He will always get me through.  The disciples here were faced with the same challenge. They were in a boat and in dire straits in the middle of the water, and they feared.  They had their Lord with them, but they somehow thought that He would let them perish.  Jesus was in the boat, and they should have realized that He certainly would not allow himself to be overtaken by the storm, but they believed in the power of that tempest more than in the power of their Lord’s presence.

Jesus did not coddle these men when their faith abandoned them.  He held them accountable for deciding to believe that their circumstance was more powerful than their God.  In truth, the status of their faith was shown clearly by the statement made after Jesus calmed the storm.  They had been following him as Messiah, and they had seen his miraculous works, yet they were confounded by his ability to calm that storm.  Even after their experiences with Jesus, they still lacked faith in who He was and what He could do.  Father, teach us to believe in your Son without doubt, to live as though we know that He is above and greater than all things.