Storms - Part 1

Josh Knipple 

Josh Knipple encourages us with today’s devo. A wonderful reminder of reminding us where to focus or thoughts through times of trouble.

Storms in life, we all face them.  It may sound like a harsh reality but this side of eternity that is the truth.  If you ever hear a pastor tell you to come to Jesus and that the storms will cease or no longer exist, run.  It is a lie.  Storms still persist, some physical, some emotional, and some spiritual.  It is a matter of what you do in the storm that makes the difference. 

Let’s take a look at a familiar passage, Jesus calming the storms in Matthew 4.  The disciples (Trained fisherman) were in their element, their comfort zone you might say.  So much so that Jesus was in the back of the boat snoozing away.  Scripture then tells us that “suddenly” a storm came upon them, to the point I picture the disciples losing their minds.  It tells us that they were scared that they were going to drown.  So we are not just talking a bit of wind, or a single crack of thunder, but a doozy, like pay attention type storm.   How many of us in that moment, we focus completely on the storm, the waves, the water crashing and we forget completely who is in the boat with us.  

Let me share a personal story on this.  Around 10 year ago now I was on a cruise ship, in the Caribbean.  Those boats, with there size shouldn’t be affected by storms, so I thought.  I’ll never forget though, dinner had just ended and the ship started swaying everywhere side to side.  You would have thought people were trying to walk a sobriety line back to their rooms as they were bouncing off the walls while trying to walk a straight line.  Then a voice came over the intercom, “This is your captain speaking, we have a storm on radar.”  To be blunt, THANK YOU, Sherlock.  “We are going to try to outrun it.”  In my mind I just kept thinking what top speed 10, let’s go for it.  30 foot swells, 80 mile an hour winds, I think most of the ship that night was like the disciples, scared out of their minds.  Even the crew, who should be accustomed to storms, were freaking out.  

I bring this up because how many times in life when storms hit, we start to focus on the storms more than we do, who is in the boat with us.  Jesus had just performed miracles, healed a leper, healed someone from a distance, the miraculous.  Now the storms hit, and they forget who He is.   How many of you are comfortable “on the water” until the storms hit.  You are sailing though your life without a care in the world, until the trials happen.  The hard days come about, the kid gets sick, a bad day happens at work, and then it is, “Jesus, where?”  He is still right there in the boat, but our eyes have been shifted to the storms and off of the Savior.  How about you today?  Are you more focused on the storm, than on the one who controls the storms?  Have you forgotten who it is in the boat with you?

Make it a Safe Saturday! God is good…