Monday, February 08, 2016

Remember Who is in the Boat

This morning, my bible study had me in Matthew 8:23-27.  This is when Jesus and his disciples get into a boat to cross the sea.  Suddenly there was a violent storm and the disciples woke Jesus up to ask him to save them.  They feared they would die.  Jesus the replies "ye of little faith" and rebukes the storm and it ended immediately.

This is one of those stories that I feel never gets enough credit when it comes to the storm on the sea stories.  Everyone talks about when Peter walked on water, but rarely preach about the incident.  But I feel there is a major lesson in this short narrative. 

Don't forget who is in the boat with you!

At this point, the disciples had seen Jesus perform several miracles.  But when the storm began, they still feared they were going to die.  They forgot who was in the boat with them.  They were following the Son of God.  A few of them, although fearful, remembered that Jesus was on the boat with them.  They knew that if they woke him up, he would be able to do something.  They had seen him do great things already...but he needed to be awake.

"Ye of little faith"

I think the disciples knew that when they woke Jesus up that He would save them from the storm.  I believe that is why they woke Him up in the first place.  So I always wondered why Jesus said this to his disciples.  But when you think about it.  Jesus was asleep.  during a violent storm. On a boat.  He wanted his disciples to have faith that everything was going to be okay, without having them wake him up.  But their faith was new, so he did what they asked him to do.  He calmed the storm.

What this means for me...

I have accepted Christ and he now lives in me.  I want to have the kind of faith where I don't have to wake Him up and handle it...I want to have the faith that even in those times I might not feel Him there, He is still working miracles in my life.  I give everything to him, so I don't have to worry about it.

Remember who is in our boat!