Let me remind you of the time when the disciples of Jesus were in the boat on the sea and the storm came up, they were frightened, thinking they were going to perish.
When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" He *said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. (Mat 8:23-26)
You see, Jesus expected them to use their faith and rebuke the winds and sea to calm the storm like He did. If they really knew who He was, and who was in the boat with them, they would have realized that nothing could stand against them, and no storm of any kind could overwhelm them.
The reason they were amazed is that they did not yet truly know who He was. "The men were amazed, and said, 'What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?'" (Mat 8:27)
Yet believers often act the same way. We sometimes encounter great storms in life, and it’s tempting to become frightened in the midst of the storm. We might even be tempted to pray, "Lord, don't you even care about us? We're going to drown!"
But we need to keep in mind that if we truly have Jesus Christ living inside of us, then the One who calms the storm is with us and we don’t need to be afraid. We need only have faith in Him and be steadfast, persevering in your faith. Speak to the storm! Rebuke the winds and the sea in the name of Jesus Christ, and it will become perfectly calm.
Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The "Speak to the Storm" painting © 2012 is by Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.
Author's note: I also recommend reading The Name of Jesus, How to Pray for the Devil, Supernatural Power for All Disciples, Loud Voices and Shouting in God's Kingdom, and Baptized with the Spirit. I invite you to visit the Home page for this blog, and you can also find my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
