In less than one week we enter the New Year.
Some of us made great strides in 2017, are excited about
where we are now and anticipate the same or better in 2018. Others have struggled
all year and are a lot less certain.
Those of us who never found a firm footing this year are torn
between wanting the year to be over with and also anxiety and uncertainty about what the future will hold for
them. Will 2018 be better, the same, or worse?
The children of GOD who have these doubts and apprehensions have but one option to the path of peaceful resolution – we hold tight to our faith. Know that the WORD and
promises of GOD are still true. JESUS, whose birth we are still celebrating, is
yet still our Emmanuel – GOD who came to be with us and save us, if we BELIEVE!
Always, our redemption and hope is in GOD’s WORD and never in what we feel!
The following illustration from the Gospel of Luke ought to encourage
us and lift our spirits.
One day Jesus said to
his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a
boat and started out. As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But
soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and
they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting,
“Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind
and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he
asked them, “Where is your faith?” The disciples were terrified and amazed.
“Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the
wind and waves obey him!” Luke 8:22-25
In this story JESUS gives an order to His disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” And He gets in the boat with them.
If we are followers of CHRIST, what we do with our lives, we
do for CHRIST….whatever you do, whether
in word or deed, do it all in the name of the LORD JESUS. Colossians 3:17. Rest assured that JESUS is with us every step
of the way as He was in the boat with His disciples.
JESUS was so confident in the journey's end that He settled down for a nap. But then came
the storm, and the disciples did what we do when things are not going well –
they panicked!
In the midst of a life struggle we can feel like we are in a
storm – tossed aimlessly about, our boats are filling up with water, we have lost all control of our situation and
we are certain that we are about to go under. Fear takes over and our faith is challenged.
We ask ourselves and others, where is GOD? Why has these
troubles overtaken me? We feel singled out and abandoned. We lose focus and make
judgments about our situation that could never be true for the children of GOD, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
We forget the promises of GOD, “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before
them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither
fail you nor abandon you." Deuteronomy 31:6
We forget that we are the beloved of GOD: “Since he did not spare even his own Son but
gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?” Romans 8:32
When our situation is the most dismal it could be and if we do
not immediately get relief, it seems to us that JESUS is asleep and uncaring.
The way we silence our fears then is to bring them to CHRIST
and lay them before Him. With sincere faith and fervency, and not in an accusatory
panic, we call upon JESUS as our Master. Be sure that JESUS will honor our
trust and we will not perish, no matter how long we wait.
But those who trust in
the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They
will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
The disciples’ fear was unwarranted and CHRIST rebukes them
for it: “Where is your faith?” They
in turn are terrified and amazed. “Who is
this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and
waves obey him!” Before the day is over JESUS demonstrates even more of His
amazing power and we find out the real reason the boat had to reach the other
side – and it had nothing to do with the disciples’ being saved from drowning.
As we come through the other side of our storm one day, we too will ask, “Who is this man?”
JESUS will calm the storms of our lives because His
proclamation over us could never be frustrated. We need have no fear or
trepidation, no matter how stormy the seas of our lives become, how dark the
skies and how loud the winds may howl. We will reach the “other side” if JESUS
says that’s where we are going.
JESUS had a special purpose for getting to the other side of
the lake and it was not for the personal benefit of the disciples. Likewise, our life journey
is not necessarily for our personal happiness, it is about expanding the
Kingdom of GOD. We all have a tiny but significant part as followers of CHRIST and
our one duty in life is to obey GOD, for which we will one day receive a just
rewarded – eternity with Him.
For now, if we simply believe JESUS, we will have peace
about the future and healing from our past.
To be continued…
Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy
GOD and Father, forgive us when we show little faith. Thank you for showing us
that our fears are unwarranted because YOU are always with us, will never fail
us, and have known the path we will take before we were even born. Help us,
Father, to believe YOUR WORD, and to remember that we live for YOUR glory and when
we are steadfast and endure we show the world YOUR power, YOUR goodness and
YOUR love. Father, YOU treasure YOUR WORD above all else and it would never
fail. It is YOUR WORD that became flesh and now live among YOUR people. Thank
YOU for JESUS CHRIST and His promise to be with us even until the end of the
age. In HIS NAME we pray. Amen.
Always by God’s Word and prayer,
Cecile
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