HE COMES AMIDST THE TEMPEST OF LIFE
A Sunday Message
THE FRUIT OF PEACE FROM OUR FAITH IN GOD
When someone who believes in God faces a distressing situation, it is not unusual that he asks, “WHY WOULD GOD ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN?” It is not necessarily a bad question, but it sometimes reveals a lack of trust out of fear. He may as well be doubting the judgment of the perfectly wise God.
Our faith is NOT the key in gaining a sense of confidence in troubling times. The key is the OBJECT OF OUR FAITH.
The SOVEREIGN IMMUTABLE GOD WHO IS ALWAYS WISE AND IN WHOSE WORDS THE UNIVERSE ABIDES.
That is where our CONFIDENCE and PEACE stand on.
ISAIAH 26:3-4
YOU KEEP HIM IN PERFECT PEACE whose mind is stayed ON YOU, because HE TRUSTS IN YOU. TRUST IN THE LORD forever, FOR THE LORD GOD is an EVERLASTING ROCK.
NOTHING CAN EVADE GOD’S CONTROL
To believe in an ALL-KNOWING and ALL-POWERFUL SOVEREIGN is to confidently acknowledge that NOTHING ESCAPES HIS ATTENTION, and NOTHING CAN EVADE HIS CONTROL. He controls the movement of galaxies (ISA. 42:5) and the growth of grass (MATT. 6:30). He commands the workings of His world (JOB 37:10-13) and the power of its wind (PSALM 78:26)
The Lord knew that a powerful wind is coming and yet He made the disciples sail without Him anyway (MARK 6:45-46).
Is He putting them in the pathway of danger? No. He is actually placing them in the roadway of discipline (HEB. 12: 6-8). Remember, everything in the universe submits to His program. In God, nothing happens apart from His plans.
HOW AN EAGLE TRAINS ITS YOUNG
We train our young so that they can be disciplined children (PROV. 22:6). That is what God does for us (PROV. 3:5-8).
But it can only happen in the context of TRUST and DEPENDENCE. God sees Himself as the parent eagle training His people (young eagles) to fly.
DEUTERONOMY 32:11
Like an eagle that STIRS UP ITS NEST, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, CATCHING THEM, BEARING THEM ON ITS PINIONS.
How does the eagle train its young? Buy teaching them to trust her. He removes the comfortable feathers and leaves only the hard sticks, then she STIRS THE NEST so that the young are forced to leave their comfort zones. The eaglets fall in panic. They struggle to fly using their undeveloped wings. They are bewildered. “Why are they being thrown to the perils of the wind?”, they asked.
In the moment of their helplessness and despair, the mother eagle CATCHES THEM, BEARING THEM ON HER PINIONS.
But before they sense relief, they are thrown back again to the wind. They flap their little undeveloped wings again in panic. This will happen again and again until the eaglets learn to fly. They are being TRAINED because the eagle cares deeply for her young and because she knows they need to grow.
The goal of God is not to provide all the comforts and satisfactions that we need so that eventually we will decide to trust Him. Absolutely not. His method is sometimes to place us in unbearable situations so that we will LEARN to TRUST HIM. (PSA. 62:8; 125:1; ISA. 12:2; JER. 17:7-8)
THE PURPOSE OF THE POWERFUL WIND
The Jews did not learn the lessons of the “signs”. The miracle of the loaves is NOT ABOUT THEM, it is ABOUT WHO JESUS IS. It is not about the bread that they want, it is about the BREAD OF LIFE that they need (JOHN 6:26-36).
If they will KNOW AND BELIEVE HIM, they will see beyond their self-oriented world and find THE GOD OF SALVATION, SECURITY, and SATISFACTION (JOHN 6:35). This is also why Philip and Andrew failed the test of faith (JOHN 6:5-9). They too haven’t learned the “lessons of the loaves” (MARK 6:52).
The coming powerful wind on the sea of Galilee is Jesus’ way to teach them again this important lesson (JOHN 6:16-18).
That is why He led them into the sea in the middle of the night on their own.
We know that He stilled the wind (and their hearts) ONLY AFTER HE REVEALED HIS GLORY. He revealed the glory of the Son of God who can walk over the tempest of the sea and commands destructive forces that brings us to our knee.
MARK 6:49-51
But when THEY SAW HIM WALKING ON THE SEA they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke to them and said, “TAKE HEART; IT IS I. DO NOT BE AFRAID.” And he got into the boat with them, and THE WIND CEASED. And they were utterly astounded,
“IT IS I. DO NOT BE AFRAID”
Do not be afraid when you face an adversarial wind. God is not harming you; He is teaching you. THE MASTER IS WITH YOU. The objective is to know WHO He is, the textbook is His WORDS, the courseware is His WILL, and the school is our WORLD.
Do not fear. KNOW CHRIST JESUS as your GOD and ONLY SAVIOR, HEAVENLY MASTER, SHEPHERD OF SOUL, and LORD OVER ALL. He says, “IT IS I, DO NO BE AFRAID”
ISAIAH 41:10
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.
Adversities come to reveal our helplessness. Weakness make us come to God for help. Trusting God allows us to receive His upholding grace. His saving grace will always produce a godly fear towards Him (MARK 6:51).
That is why sinners who humbly repent and come to Christ in faith receives salvation (ACTS 2:38). That is also why every believer receives God’s strength in moments of his weakness (2 COR. 12:9-10). In our helplessness, we trust in Him and, in our faith, we magnify His glory.
Never be afraid when an unexpected strong wind comes to your life. Remember the “lesson of the loaves”.
He is revealing HIMSELF to you.
Let us always find courage in the trustworthiness of our Lord,
– Your Pastor (Jay-R Remorosa)