DESTINATION: THE OTHER SIDE
Our text begins in Luke 8:22-33.
Have you ever started out to do something that you are sure that the Lord has directed you to do, but suddenly there were obstacles in your way? You met with opposition and before long you began to wonder if you had really heard from God, and you began to lose sight of your vision or your destination.
Well, if you have, you are not alone.
Satan has been trying to use that device against God’s people for years.
You know when a good sailor gets fogged in and can’t see where he is going, he believes what the map says. He sets his compass and maintains his course. He knows the shore is there whether he can see it or not.
Sometimes we get on a road in our travels and we have to get the map out and rely on it to get us back on the right road. We have to believe the map.
Let’s turn to Luke chapter 8.
Notice what Jesus said: "Let us go over to the other side of the lake."
That was the destination that Jesus named. As far as the Lord was concerned the end of their boat ride was the other side of the lake, not the bottom of the lake.
If Jesus has given you a destination, he is going to be in your boat to make sure you reach it, if you put your trust in him.
Look at the last sentence in verse 22. And they launched forth.
I like that. They launched forth. They didn’t have to organize a committee to look into lake crossings or have a rummage sale or take up a second offering, but they launched forth.
Let me tell you something. It takes faith to launch forth, and it takes faith to finish the course.
Many have launched forth, but like the disciples in this text, misplaced or lost their faith before they finished. Something somewhere along the way caused them to lose sight of their destination and to become unsure of what the Lord had spoken to them.
You know, it doesn’t matter how black the storm looks or how bleak the future, if we are doing what this Word of God says to do we will pass over to the other side. We will accomplish what God has given us to do.
Praise God!
If we fail, we will have to do it on our own.
Hebrews 10:35. Cast not away therefore your confidence.
Listen, we have God’s Word. If we stand on it, cling to it, and believe it, the Word of God will come to pass in our lives.
Psalms 37:5. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Now I want to move on here, but let me say this; Don’t wait till your boat is full of water to call on the Lord. In fact, don’t wait till you see the storm. Start trusting in Jesus and putting his Word in your heart now. Keep his Word fresh in your spirit and when storms come, you will have peace.
Verse 25. Jesus said unto them, "Where is your faith."
You see, they knew Jesus was in their boat, but yet they cried, "Master, we perish."
Don’t annul your faith by the words of your mouth.
Where is your faith?
Many times our faith is like the mysterious umbrella that most of us have. We know we have it, but on sunny days we keep moving it out of our way pushing it from one place to another. One day when it is raining we don’t know where it is.
But Dave, if I am doing what the Lord called me to do, why? Why the storms? Why the trials? Why the opposition?
The answer is in verse 26-33.
In that boat, coming across that lake was the Word of God, coming to destroy the works of Satan, coming to free a man held captive by demons.
Many times it is not you that Satan cares about, but it is the Word that dwells in you. Especially when it is about to tear down one of his strongholds.
The Bible never told us that storms would not come, but it says if we build on the Rock, our house will stand.
II Corinthians 2:14. Now thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
If God has given you a vision, he has given you the power to bring it to manifestion. Don’t let Satan cloud your path.
Believe your compass (the Holy Ghost) and your map (the Bible). Set your course and press on.
If God be for us, who can be against us?
