A Nugget from New Life Network
(by Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day – October 28, 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)
It was in the middle of the night and I was awake. The reason was because of a storm in my life. The sea was tossing my boat and it looked like it was going to sink. The storm was relentless and had no appearance of letting up. What should we do when it looks like all is lost and it looks like there is no hope?
The first thing we do is quit looking at the storm. Studying the storm and rating the storm does nothing but give us greater knowledge of the storm. Our help doesn’t come from the knowledge of the storm but from the truth of God’s Word. That is the source of our freedom from the storms of life (John 8:31-32).
Once, Jesus was in a large fishing boat with His disciples on the Sea of Galilee when a severe storm came unexpectedly (Mark 4:36-41). It was night. It looked like the boat was going to be destroyed and they were all going to die, when they discovered Jesus asleep. To them it looked like the end was near and all was lost-and Jesus was sleeping!
The disciples were furious. They asked Jesus how He could sleep while everything in their lives was being destroyed. His reply is what we must hear today. He asked them two questions. He said, “Why are you fearful?” “Why is it you have no faith?” (v.40).
Maybe that is what we need to ask ourselves today. When the storm rages and it looks like our boat is sinking, let’s ask ourselves why are we fearful and why is it that we have no faith. Then we must act like Jesus instead of acting like the disciples.
What did Jesus do? He spoke to the storm and commanded it to cease. He commanded the storm to be still and then there was a great calm.
Do you need a great calm in your life today? Do you need the storm to be stilled? Then here is the answer. Do what Jesus did and don’t do what the disciples did. Imitate the One who had victory and don’t imitate the ones who had failure. It sounds simple because it is.
“As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.’ So, they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, ‘Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?’
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Silence! Be still!’ Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ The disciples were absolutely terrified. ‘Who is this man?’ they asked each other. ‘Even the wind and waves obey him!'” (Mark 4:35-41 NLT)
