I had heard this story many times, but on this day, I feel that God opened my eyes and helped it make more sense to me. This account is in Mark 4. It is the story of Jesus asleep in the boat when the disciples were with Him. The storm came, blowing them back and forth. The winds were hurricane-sized, and the water was very dangerous. In other words, it was a very big storm, and the disciples were very afraid!
The disciples woke Jesus up and asked Him why He seemed to not care about the fact that they were in this terrible storm. Jesus didn’t understand why they had so little faith and were afraid of the storm with Him right there with them. Jesus ordered the wind to stop, and it did. Jesus ordered the water to calm down, and it did. Wow—how big is that?
On this day, Jesus taught me that He doesn’t want us to be afraid when the storms come. The circumstances of our storm might look huge and frightening, but God is bigger than any storm.
Jesus wants us to just have faith, instead of being fearful and freaking out. He wants us to have the kind of faith that looks at the circumstances and chooses to lie down beside Him and rest, be peaceful, and sleep.
Oh, by the way—the boat filled up with water. The disciples were standing in water in the boat! I think Jesus wanted them to just go lie down in the water beside Him and trust that He would take care of them.
This is how I want to live my life! I want to ignore the circumstances and know that God is bigger than any storm. I want to please my God by lying down beside Him—even as the water rises around me in the boat—and resting in my faith in Him!
This was an awesome picture which God gave me that day. This storm of aplastic anemia brings many threatening circumstances into our lives, and it brings potentially threatening circumstances for our future. This disease has the potential to rob me and my family of so much. In the midst of these threatening circumstances, Jesus wants me to understand that He is much bigger than these circumstances. He wants us to rest in this disease—rest beside Him, knowing that He knows what is best for us, He loves us, and He will take care of us. You can’t get that kind of peace and security from anything on this earth. It only comes from Jesus, and He is mighty!
“The LORD is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them” (Psalm 145:17–19, NIV).
Don’t Lose Your Flavor
I mentioned earlier that as I spent time with God studying His Word, I began to see things much more clearly in my spiritual life. As things have become clearer, I have been able to hear from God and have a better understanding of what path He has for me. This is an amazing gift.
I feel that God has been teaching me that when I can clearly see what He wants me to do in a situation, there can and will be challenges to stop me. The challenge can actually be obedience. What do I mean by this? Well, when our obedience is required, it almost always carries with it consequences. I have found that as I choose the good path of obedience, the consequences of my obedience are sometimes good and sometimes bad.
The world’s ways are very different than God’s ways. When I am clearly shown the path that I am to take in a situation and I actually walk down that path, the world doesn’t seem to understand. People’s feelings and emotions get involved, and others can sometimes react negatively to your actions—even when your acts of obedience are clearly the right thing for you. Sometimes those right choices can actually make your emotions feel wrong, even to yourself. But the good news is that if you do the right thing, then God will watch your back and protect you.
“For the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12, NIV).
One late winter evening, I was trying to process and put in perspective the hectic day I had experienced. I was sitting in our family room in front of a warm fire, talking to God. My husband had already fallen asleep, and my daughter was in another room, studying. I had been obedient that day and done something that I knew was what God wanted. Although I had done what I knew was right, I had been unexpectedly treated very badly by someone I loved.
I spent time asking God questions and wondering if I had made some wrong choices or maybe handled the situation differently than He had planned. I begged Him for guidance and then sat silently, waiting for answers.
After several minutes of silence, I decided to turn on the television. As I surfed through the channels, I searched for one of my favorite ministers, who was sometimes broadcast on that day of the week. I told God that I needed understanding, and if I could just hear this minister speak some encouragement, it would help me regain my peace. As I flipped through the channels, I had no success finding the minister. I did, however, stop on a station with another minister speaking, and he was at the end of his sermon. He explained that when you are obedient to God, there will be consequences. He went on to say that you must still be obedient, leave the consequences with God, and trust Him.