A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day – September 3, 2019
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
As we sit here today Hurricane Dorian is over the Bahamas and headed toward the Florida coast. We have had calls from evacuees from Florida to Georgia to get away from this huge storm. We are praying for all our friends in the path of Dorian. My sister and her family should be arriving at our home any minute to stay with us for a few days. They
are part of one of the mandatory evacuation orders.
Every time we go through one of these hurricanes I am reminded of the scripture in the Gospels that described the time when Jesus and His disciples were facing a storm on the Sea of Galilee. Let’s look at that story once again to see what we can learn:
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4:35-41)
What are some of the main points we can glean from this story?
Jesus did not do anything that the Father did not tell Him to do. When He said “let us pass over unto the other side” that indicated there was something that the Father wanted done on the other side. We learn later that it was the deliverance of the Gadarene demoniac.
Jesus knew that some sort of storm would come to try to stop Him from ministering to this demon possessed person that lived in the tombs. It’s just standard operating procedure for the Satan. Jesus was not worried or afraid because He heard from the Father. It is amazing how much faith is activated when you have heard a word from the Father. Jesus was at peace because of this!!! Out of His inner peace Jesus spoke peace to the storm. The Greek word used here is “siopao” which means to hush, be calm, or be quiet.
He then asked His disciples why they were so afraid and why they had no faith. This indicates to me that we could be walking in this same type of authority and faith. Why aren’t we?
Fear is always a key factor in facing storms and giants. Jesus knew who He was. He had no fear. Do we know who we are in Him? Do we hear the Father so clearly that it builds faith? Is the stream of faith coming into our lives able to overcome the steady stream of fear that is constantly being pumped into us by the news media, the storm forecasters, and the world? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If we are not hearing the Word of God then we will be overcome with fear.
