Pastor’s Corner: “Perspectives from Heaven”
Psalm 4:8 (AMP) – In peace [and with a tranquil heart] I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety and confident trust.
IS JESUS IN YOUR BOAT? Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are going to drown?” – Mark 4:38
Do you ever feel that your life is like that little boat in the storm? That you are being tossed around by the waves, ready to capsize at any moment? Where is Jesus? Why would He leave me to suffer like this? Maybe you have even gotten mad at God, like the disciples did, shouting, “Don’t you even care about me at all?” The trials and struggles in our lives have a way of making us desperate. Desperate for relief. We want Jesus to take it all away. We want Jesus to calm the storm. But sometimes, like those disciples in that wave-battered boat, we miss the comfort and rest that was right there with us all along.
Let’s look at this scene with different eyes: The trip across the sea was Jesus’ idea. It says, “he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” He wanted them to go through that storm. He had a purpose and a plan. Getting around the storm was not His plan. Going through it was. If we truly believe that God is in charge of every aspect of our lives, past, present, future, we can trust that whatever storm we are in the midst of, He put us there.
THERE IS REST IN THE STORM: Stress and pressure that come from the storms of life affects our ability to sleep at night and sometimes even make us unable to function during the day. How can we rest while our “boat” is being battered by a gale-force winds? Yet Jesus could sleep under such circumstances! Jesus knew what it was to rest in the middle of the storm. He knew he was safe in his Father’s arms. Do we? Isaiah 26:3 (NLT) – 3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! The pressure may not be removed, but God is able to give us such an attitude toward it that we are as content with the pressure as without it! It is much more than physical rest. It is rest from fear and worry. Jesus asked the terrified disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still not have faith in me?” (Mark 4:40).As Jesus rested in the Father during the storm, he encouraged his friends to rest in him. This is the best rest. Is Jesus asleep in your boat? Go cling to Him. It’s the safest place you’ll find. Exodus 33:14 (ESV) – 14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
The Lord is rejoicing over you with singing!
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton & family