Riding out the Storm

[bluidkiti]

Riding out the Storm

Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm." (Matthew 8:24-25)

The Disciples cried out, "Lord save us, we're going to drown!" Jesus rebuked their lack of faith. Then He turned to the storm and put an end to it. The storms of life are going to come. But Jesus reminds us that they will not take our lives. We will not perish. Yet we often become overwhelmed and afraid at the immensity of our circumstances. In those times, we--like the disciples--sometimes cry out for God to put an end to the storm and bring the calm into our lives once more. His merciful, loving response is at times to grant our request. But it is out of that same love He holds for us that sometimes He denies our request. He allows us to go through the storm to its finish because the benefits to us are too great for Him to do otherwise.
The storm is a time of tempering, when God works on us to make us a little stronger than before, to build our faith and to bring growth that would not come otherwise. It is part of His patient work He diligently performs in our lives, not just so we can ride out the storm, but so we can hold our eyes steadfast on Him throughout, and be able to rest in knowing we are safe.
How many times do we cry out in fear, forgetting He is with us, only to put a stop to His work in us prematurely? When we cry out for the calm, do we lose the benefits of the storm? Fortunately, though God may stop a storm or two, He does not stop His work on us (Phil. 1:6). Where one building process is ended, another will sometimes begin. Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder what God could do in us if we would just ride out the storm.
With the beginning of a new year, each of us hopes for a better year than those before. We often hope for the new year to be one full of peace, prosperity and joy. Those are easy things to embrace. Yet perhaps each of us should be willing to embrace the storms that we will face this year, ride them out and allow God's work in our lives to bring the truest prosperity we will ever know--as we are shaped after the image of our Lord.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18)

Happy New Year

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