Facing The Storms Of Life May Be Easier Than You Think.

“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14)

Introduction:

In today’s reading, we hear of Jesus walking on water, a reading we have heard many times before, but it is a fascinating reading because here we see Jesus’ defying, or changing the laws of physics.

To many it is his greatest miracle, (outside the resurrection of course), and it is this miracle that many magicians try to emulate as the ultimate magic trick or miracle; and some of them are very good. I once saw a magician casually walking beside the Embankment by the Thames in London, and who was somehow distracted by potential assailants, and ended up walking on the River Thames to escape; leaving his pursuers so shocked and dumbfounded that they gave up in wonder. It was so well done and believable, yet deep down we all knew it was a trick, and it was obvious there were boards or something hidden in the water to carry his weight, although we didn’t know how.

Regardless of how brilliant it was, it would never compare to the magnificence of Jesus, for example, Jesus wasn’t doing this in front of a large audience, and he didn’t say, “and that’s magic” at the end it, because it was only his disciples who were present. And … Jesus wasn’t just walking a few feet or a few yards into flat calm water, verse 24 tells us he was walking miles into the middle of a lake, a very large and stormy lake at that, and he wasn’t doing it during the day either, he did it at night … in the dark, when you cannot read the wind and the waves, and … without any modern navigation.

It makes you wonder, what was going through his mind.

With all this taken into account, we can see that this was quite an event, a substantial miracle to say the least. … And it makes us wonder, what exactly was going through Jesus mind before hand, because in verse 22, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat, to go on ahead to the other side, and that he would catch them up, later.

Now did Jesus think to himself, “Well that was a hard day feeding those 5000, I really need a break, a bit of time to myself. … I know, I will send the disciples on ahead, and I will catch up with them later. … Mind you, they will be far out in the lake by then, ack never mind, it’s a good night for it, I will just walk out to them. … although it will probably scare the life out of them, ack … it will be good laugh”.

Ok, that is a cheap attempt at humour, but somehow … that is what Jesus must have said, or something like that, because that is what he did. What I am trying to say here is that Jesus, as we all know, thought on a completely different level from the rest of us, and it is that level he is wanting us to aspire to.

Now, I cannot see us walking on water, I don’t have that kind of faith as yet, but I do believe Jesus wants us to master the storms in our lives, in a similar manner; … because the storms of life just did not bother him, he did not ever, let them get to him.

And you may say, woe, that is pretty strong, but you know, whatever we are going through, regardless of how bad it may seem to us … our problems would be utterly destroyed in the gracious love of God as we all know. … And this reminds me of the story of where a lady said to her minister once, (in an attempt to impress him), that she only takes the small things to the lord, because she doesn’t want to bother him with the bigger things, whereas the minister was quick to reply, "Lady, anything you bring to God is small". … And I like that, because God is bigger than any problem that we will ever face.

That is what the Christian religion is trying to teach us, to master and overcome the trials and tribulations of life, and … and use them to develop and strengthen our faith, rather than … to let them over whelm, or destroy us. Do you see the difference.

Satan wants us to fail.

Let us put it a different way, in Luke 22 verses 31 and 32, Jesus knew Peter would deny him, yet he called him to be his disciples, saying “Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for you … that your faith will not fail; and that when you are converted, you will strengthen your brethren”.