-Strenght for Today- "Are You in the Grip of a Fierce Storm?"- Matthew 14:22-27.
In this passage, Jesus’ disciples are trapped “in the grip of a fierce storm.” They’re there because Jesus had commanded them, “...to go before Him unto the other side of the Sea of Galilee, while He sent the multitude away” -v.22. But even in the “will of the Lord,” they still “struggled against the storm.” And with “the wind in their faces” (v. 24), they were stuck in a storm, and “unable to get out.”
We’ve all faced times when it seemed as if “no good could ever come from what we were going through.” The storms of life are never pleasant, yet they do produce certain benefits in our lives if we’d make a note of God’s Word, “Now no chastening for the present seems joyous, but grevious: nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” -Hebrews 12:11.
There're hidden blessings “in the storms of life. Verse 25 tells us that “storms are God's means of transportation.” The very thing the disciples feared, “Jesus used as a vehicle to reveal Himself unto them.” He came to them in the “face of darkness.” He came to them, “in the fourth watch,” during the darkest hour of the night, “walking on the storm.”
- You may be walking in darkness this very moment, or
- Maybe you’re facing some of the darkest days of your life right now.
But God is with you, (Hebrews 13:5), so, even in the darkest hours of life, “God is still God,” and “He’s still in control of our lives.” There’re times when we all feel like we’ve lost the battle with our storm. But when storms look the bleakest, “Jesus is about to show up!” He may not keep you from going into the storm, but He’ll keep you “in the midst of the storm!” So, just as surely as “Jesus is in control of your storms,” “He’s also in charge of your blessings!”
Jesus’ action wasn’t about the “fierceness of the storm,” but a testimony that “He was greater than the storm!” Storms are God’s means of, “revealing the Saviour” - verses 25-27.
When Jesus came walking on water, the disciples didn’t t recognize Him. They thought He was a ghost –v.26. They cried out in “fear.” But Jesus came with a message of “peace” and “power.” He came to them with a word of peace, “be of good cheer.” And with a word of power, “It is I,” and with a word of potential, “be not afraid!”
The storms of life are going to “howl,” but the truth is, “Jesus is the Master of the storms!” Storms have the potential of revealing Jesus to us in ways we may’ve never considered before. So, when He comes “walking on your storm,” He’ll come, with the same three-fold “message of hope,”
- “Be not afraid,”
- “Be of good cheer,”
- “It is I.”
Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD