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Knowing Jesus in the Storm

10/12/2022

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Wednesday’s Word
Knowing Jesus in the Storm
 
 
 
Quite often we think we know someone based on what we’ve seen on the surface or how others have defined them. Yet, there is often more to them than meets the eye.
 
Jesus had called his disciples to follow him in ministry. There was something about him that made them come. Each one had cast aside their daily activities to join him—eager to learn from him, to see, hear, and touch those things that were outside the realm of ordinary. 
 
Jesus’ messages were radical, but yet compassionate and the people hung on to every word. Today, he had preached from a boat because the crowd was so large.  It had been a long, tiring day, and at its close, Jesus instructed the disciples to “cross to the east side” (Mark 4:35-41, CEV).
 
Being tired, and knowing his disciples were adept at fishing and sailing, Jesus went to sleep in the back of the boat.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fierce storm arose.
 
Isn’t that how it is with our own lives?  We will be sailing along smoothly being a good Christian and then, without warning, we are buffeted by life and its inevitable storms. Yet, sometimes it is these very storms that make us recognize who Jesus really is and that he is always with us.
 
The wind and waves were crashing all around, collaborating to make the boat these men were guiding, a sailor’s coffin. The disciples were terrified. Soon that turbulent water was no longer outside, it found its way inside the boat, filling the empty spaces and threatening their very lives.  What was even scarier was that the storm had also barged its way inside them, drowning their faith.
 
“Jesus!”
 
Would he hear them over the chaos? Yes, he would. You and I know that God hears us each and every time we call.
 
“Jesus!”
 
How could he sleep at a time like this? So they woke him.
 
“Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to drown?” (v.38). It was the almost-last-words of desperate fishermen who were about to die.
 
Sometimes in our own desperation we wonder if Jesus hears us, if he sees our storms. And will he put an end to them...quickly. 
 
What were the disciples expecting? They had seen Jesus up close and personal.  At those times, he was preaching and teaching crowds (sometimes giving these disciples private tutorials, as he explained the meanings of his parables). Jesus was also healing---miraculously healing people. But these disciples didn’t need a healing.  They needed to be rescued.  We do, too. We need to be rescued from the storms of life. Rescued from sin--from addictions, from mounting debt, from our own crippling self-righteousness.
 
Perhaps, in the moment, they did not really know what they expected of Jesus. After all, they had only witnessed Jesus helping other people by healing them physically. Could he rescue them from imminent danger? From natural disaster?
 
The psalmist David gives us the answer and reminds us of God’s power:
You were in serious trouble,
but you prayed to the Lord,

    and he rescued you.
He made the storm stop

    and the sea be quiet.
 You were happy because of this,
and he brought you to the port

    where you wanted to go.
 You should praise the Lord
    for his love
and for the wonderful things

    he does for all of us.
                       (Psalm 107:28-31, CEV).
 
Perhaps they had heard that psalm before, or perhaps not. Or perhaps they had recited Psalm 46 when they gathered for weekly temple meetings.
 
 God is our mighty fortress,
always ready to help

    in times of trouble.
And so, we won't be afraid!

… Let the ocean roar and foam,
and its raging waves

    shake the mountains….
                          (Psalm 46:1-3, CEV)
 
 
“We won’t be afraid…Let the ocean roar” …. We say it, too.  But do we really mean it or believe it? The ocean was certainly roaring now. But the disciples had thrown their faith overboard at its angry sound; they had forgotten that Jesus was in the boat with them.  He was all they needed. And, for us, too, Jesus is all we will ever need.
 
The Scriptures tell us that Jesus awoke and “ordered the wind and waves to be quiet” (Mark 4:39, CEV) and immediately there was complete calm. Consider this:  Jesus was in complete control. He’s our God who can fix chaos. He’s our God who has preeminence over creation because he made it, and it is subject to his commands.
 
The apostle John tells us, “Everything that was created received its life from him…” (John 1:4, CEV). We know this because:
He…is…God!
 
And while Jesus does not tell the men to be quiet, one can guess, that as he asked, “Why were you afraid? Don't you have any faith?” (v. 40) they fell silent. We are told that they were even more afraid at his questioning. 
They began asking each other:
“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (v. 41).
Instinctively they knew who he was.  It wasn’t so much a question.  It was more a “Did we just see what we just saw?” moment.  They now knew Jesus was more than a healer. He was the Messiah. The Son of God. The Savior and Redeemer. He was man, but very God. He was Creator. He was God.


PRAYER: Jesus, we cry out to you knowing you hear, and answer our petitions. We are not immune from the storms of life, but we know we can count on you to get us through them. Amen.
 
                                                                                       ©Medytations 2022
 ​
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Ordinary People, Ordinary Things

10/5/2022

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Wednesday's Word
by Dorette Saunders

 

God often uses ordinary people and ordinary things to teach us lessons about his extraordinary power. The account of Naaman, the Syrian commander’s healing of leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-15), is a case in point.
 
Namaan’s wife had a young Jewish girl working for her. This servant girl was not an immigrant who had crossed the border looking for work, or food. Rather, “one day while the Syrian troops were raiding Israel, they captured” her (v.2, CEV).
 
She had been forcibly taken away from her homeland, and all that she knew and loved. Despite this, she had not left her faith in God behind. And now, perhaps in the context of her enslavement, this young woman had grown close to her mistress. Knowing of the commander’s leprous condition, she said to his wife, “If your husband Naaman would go to the prophet in Samaria, he would be cured of his leprosy” (v.3).
 
Can you hear the devil buzzing around, sneering at her? Why would you want to help them? They dragged you from your country and made you a slave. What if it doesn’t work? Naaman would be embarrassed and the consequences to you would be harsh.
 
Notice the faith of this young woman. She was no healer, but she knew that God would work through his prophet. The healing would depend on Naaman’s obedience: if he would go…he would be cured.
 
Do we have such confidence in God’s ability to act in dire situations? Do we voice them? This was an ordinary servant girl telling the wife of a mighty military man what her God could do. We read in the Scriptures that God uses the weak things to astound the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27).
 
Perhaps this military leper had tried many cures that had failed. So entertaining a glimmer of hope, Naaman heeded the advice and went to Israel. As the narrative unfolds, he stops at the prophet Elisha’s dwelling in anticipation of the prophet performing a healing ritual on him. After all, he had taken along “30,000 pieces of silver, 6,000 pieces of gold, and 10 new outfits” (2 Kings 5:5, CEV) in gifts to broker this deal.
 
But Naaman quickly learned that healing is not for sale.  And God is not a deal-maker. Nor does God deal in quid pro quo, nor should his prophets. In fact, Elisha does not come out to meet the commander nor does he accept any of the gifts. Instead, he sends someone to tell Naaman to dip in the River Jordan seven times to receive his healing!
 
Suddenly Naaman’s expectations crashed. The Jordan River? That ordinary river?  Why, Syria had much cleaner waters, he could have saved himself the trip, and the fanfare, and washed himself back there. Enraged, Naaman was ready to go back home, but his servants, ordinary people, endowed with wisdom not normally attributed to people of their station in life, pleaded with him:
 
“Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. So why don't you do what he said? Go wash and be cured” (v. 13).
 
Aren’t we sometimes guilty of putting God in a box?  Of expecting things to work the way that makes sense for us?  Don’t we often sabotage the blessings and healings that are destined for our lives by our own stubbornness?  By our own faulty expectations?
 
In contrast, do you see the confidence that these ordinary servants display? Go wash and be cured. 
 
And yes, when Naaman cast away his pride, humbled himself and obeyed, his skin was cleansed like that of a young child.
 
God uses people we would least expect to intervene in our situations. To counsel us, to pray over us, to speak words of comfort or healing, to point us to God, with whom all things are possible.
 
It was a profound lesson for Naaman, and one for us as well. There is one God, the God of Israel, and besides him there is no other.
 
PRAYER: Lord God, humble me that I may see with fresh eyes that which you would have me see. Teach me, Lord, that you are not limited in power, but that your arm of mercy stretches far beyond what I can hope or imagine. Help me to know that you are God, and besides you, there is no other. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
                                                 ©M©dytations 2021


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    Moirajo is a minister, social worker, wife, mother, writer and animal lover. That's just for starters. Join the story, there's so much we can share together! 

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