As they followed they were
afraid. —Mark 10:32
{CHAMBERS} “At the beginning of our life with Jesus Christ, we were
sure we knew all there was to know about following Him. It was a delight to
forsake everything else and to throw ourselves before Him in a fearless
statement of love. But now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is far ahead of us
and is beginning to seem different and unfamiliar— “Jesus was going before
them; and they were amazed” (Mark 10:32).[…] At first I was confident that I
understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize that there is a
distance between Jesus and me and I can no longer be intimate with Him. I have no
idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely distant.[…] The
discipline of dismay is an essential lesson which a disciple must learn. The
danger is that we tend to look back on our times of obedience and on our past
sacrifices to God in an effort to keep our enthusiasm for Him strong (see
Isaiah 50:10-11). But when the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is
over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which
brings inexpressibly wonderful joy.”
{ELGIN} In our minds, it is easy to be a Christ follower. In our lives … well, not so much. Hebrews 11:1 says faith is an intangible substance
– you can’t hold it in your hand …. You can’t see it in the sky …. You can’t
put it in your pocket to save it for later … it’s spiritual … “the substance of
things hoped for” – belief even though you don’t have any idea what is going to
happen – “the evidence of things not seen”
Even the disciples who walked with Jesus for three years struggled while
He was in their very presence. Everything
around – all of their years of being on the sea told them that they were doomed
during a fierce storm .. they had done all they knew how to do … Well – I’ll
let you read it ...
(Mark 4:35-41) “That day when evening came, he said to his
disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took
him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A
furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was
nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke
him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked
the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and
it was completely calm. He said to his
disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were
terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey
him!””
Ok, so the first clue should
have been that while the disciples were sweating and fretting, Jesus was
sleeping. His sleeping in the midst of
that storm was the picture of an absolute awareness of who He was and who His
Father is. That is a great picture of
our lives. We sweat and fret over the issues of life .. the storms that come …
and they will come. (John 16:33) “These things I [Jesus]
have spoken to you that you might have peace.
In the world you will have trouble, but be encouraged because I have
overcome the world” Jesus is the Master
of the sea! “If His eye is on the
sparrow I know He watcheth me!” So Jesus is asking us the same question He
asked the disciples .. multiple times .. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have
no faith?” or “Why did you doubt?’ or “Where
is your faith?” What is it that you are
facing that defies your ability to resolve it .. to fix it .. to make it go
away? We look for peace and assurance on
the outside but Jesus can give that to us on the inside. Even if life does not go your way … even if
the boat sinks … faith will see you through … Listen, your faith does not get
stronger on its own .. faith is made stronger as it is tested. Our challenge is to not be like the disciples
… doing everything they could think of and then, as a last resort, turning to
Jesus. Jesus should be our first stop,
not the last one.
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