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Faith

Saturday, March 15, 2008 0 comments

Mark 4:35-41

Jesus Calms the Storm

35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

41They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

In the passage above, Jesus demonstrated absolute trust in God by sleeping (soundly) through the storm on Lake Galilee. The disciples mistook Jesus' trust for apathy(absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement). Strangely, their fear is not mentioned until Jesus had quieted the storm. Here, faith is courage based on trust in God's care no matter the situation/circumstances. The disciples were extremely puzzled with who this man really was.. This suggests their awe stemmed from the realization that their Teacher did what only God would be able to do - command the winds and the waves.

Similar to the previous post about David having been armed with the power of God was able to defeat the Giant Goliath. David had the total trust and confidence in God that God would deliver him. David had faith.

The disciples did show a certain "lack of faith" in God when they had felt helpless and turned to their Teacher for direction. Of course, in circumstances like the boat on the verge of capsizing, it would be trying to pause and have quiet confidence in God. A normal instinctive reaction would be to alert people around you and try to salvage the situation. However, these are the moments we need God our Lord the most.

If one has faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for the person. This is the highest form of faith that one could have; that even in cruel and hard times, he/she can still place his/her faith in God. The Disciples were unable to do so as they reacted the way a normal person would have. But we as believers, must trust God. It will be hard, with thoughts like "Sure a not, He will save us?"

Just like the Lord's Prayer,

9"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

the Lord's Prayer. In it He models all the elements of proper prayer in an appropriate sequence. He presented the elements such as praise and adoration, leaving room for God's sovereign will to override ours; appeal for kingdom priorities to be manifest on the earth; personal petition and pleas for forgiveness contingent on our practice of forgiving others; and prayer for strength to avoid the tempter and his snares.

Lets pray that God will increase our capacity of FAITH in Him. Lets trust the Lord with our dear lives!

Blessed week ahead. :)

Labels: DEVOTION