BLESSED ASSURANCE
In the midst of the storm
Matthew 14:22-33
There was a man who build a beautiful sandcastle, works on it for hours. Finally he stands back, looks at it. "It's wonderful." Just as he was admiring it, a storm comes up and blows over his entire sandcastle. Now he's standing where his beautiful masterpiece was blown by the storm and now on level sand. He said to himself, "I know there's a lesson in this but I'm not sure what it is."
There are events in our lives that we cannot explain, that are beyond our comprehension. Oftentimes the most terrible trouble that comes to us are the unexplainable things. Someone had said that once or twice in the course of a lifetime there comes to man days of great horror of darkness that have no explanation.
When Jesus sent his disciples to get into the boat and then the storm broke, the disciples were probably wondering, why would Jesus deliberately put them in danger. Every one of us has our sandcastles blown away and like the disciples, we would question God, "Why am I being hit with this storm? I don't understand."
God has a purpose:
It is beneficial to us -- we must realize that storms have origin: a. Sometimes it is caused by the devil; b. Sometimes by other people; c. Sometimes by us; d. Sometimes they are allowed by the Lord and the kinds that comes from God are: 1. Storms of Correction -- intended to awaken us, to discipline us, to get our attention. 2. Storms of Perfection -- to build our character, to deepen our faith, and make us more sensitive to the suffering of others. 3. Storms of Reproduction -- to cause others to imitate our response to suffering.
Storms of life reveal certain things about us: It reveals the nature of our faith; the strength of our commitment; the level of our maturity; the measure of our teachability.
In verse 22 we can see that Jesus made the disciples get on the boat and go on ahead of him. Jesus knew that the storm was about to strike and yet he deliberately directed his disciples into it. What the disciples did not know was that Jesus knew they were safer in the storm within the will of God than on dry ground with the crowd out of his will. Jesus can control the elements but He can't and won't control the people because of such a thing as free will. Storms are there to test us but take comfort in Jesus' words, 'Do not be afraid, It is I' so be of good cheer, He is with us in the midst of storm. Someone had said that 'the greatest measure of men is found not in luxury and comfort of his life, but in times of inconvenience and controversy of life.' It is in the midst of storm that God will know who we are.
Friends we have to learn to look at the storms of life as a challenge and an opportunity for improvement to deepen our faith. Our attitude should be "Every problem has a solution, an opportunity for my faith in God to show its wonders." God is able to provide and show us the solution.