Why Doesn't He Stop the Waves?

God has continued to speak to me about faith.  Specifically about trusting in Him no matter what the circumstances might say.  Kind of a continuation on the last post I made about certainty being the opposite of faith.

Take a look at Matthew 8 ²³ Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴ Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” ²⁶ 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.  I had always read this passage as Jesus calling out His disciples for not having enough faith to quiet the waves themselves.  However, He asked “Why are you so afraid?”  He was not chastising them for not rebuking the storm; He couldn't believe that they didn't trust Him enough to know that He would protect them even in the middle of the storm.  He didn't have to “let” the storm even occur.  He could have rebuked it as soon as it started.  There are all types of scenarios but He chose to let it rage.  His disciples could have been asleep, resting in Him, just as He was resting in His Father but they chose to look at the circumstances, the created instead of the creator.

Reading again in Matthew 14: ²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.  ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”  ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  ²⁹ “Come,” he said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”  ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  Again in this passage Jesus could have stopped the wind before calling Peter out into the water but He didn't.  Peter stepped out into the water and as he focused on Jesus he was walking on water.  Can you imagine that?  What must that have felt like?  To be doing something that only one other man in recorded history had or has ever done and that other man was the Son of God Himself!  Peter began to look at the circumstances and began to sink.  I don’t believe that it was the fact that he looked at the circumstances that he sank.  I don’t believe that Jesus rebuked him for looking at them.  Sometimes all we can see are the circumstances surrounding us.  I believe that as Jesus said “why did you doubt?”  He was saying, yes there was wind, yes there were waves, but I had you!  Isn't it enough to know that He has us?

I have gone through a lot of storms.  I have seen friends go through and have friends who are currently going through storms.  Some of these storms I wonder if I can make it, I sometimes have wondered how I made it.  I wonder if my friends can make it.  I wonder if I were in their shoes could I hold up as well as I see them holding up.  I often wonder “why doesn't God just swoop in and fix it immediately?”  I am not saying that God can’t do that.  I am not saying that God won’t do that.  I have seen it happen many times, miraculous moves of God, immediate restoration.  What I am saying is that in those darkest of times when things don’t happen in the way and the timing that you are expecting and all hope seems to be lost don’t ask yourself “what am I doing wrong?”  Don’t ask “has God forsaken me?”  What you should think is “I am going to go to the front of the boat and sleep with Jesus because he is in control.”  Choose to wrap yourself in the knowledge that He has already proved His love for us in that while we were still sinners He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us (Romans 5:8).  

Another passage in which I often find rest “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12: 9 – 10)

It doesn't even have to be a storm. It can be something that you believe God has spoken to you, something He has put on your heart.  For example, my wife and I know that God has called us to adopt.  I continue to try to figure out God’s plan and wonder why He isn't doing something right now.  Another example, our family is at a point where our oldest son is getting ready to start his final year of high school and we wonder what God has for him.  Both of these things are good things but they can bring fear into my life.  Fear of the unknown, of failure, of how the heck are we going to pay for it???  I have to rest in the fact that He has already done it I just haven’t seen it yet, “the evidence of things not seen.”  I have to realize it is okay to have uncertainty of how, when, or where as long as I have complete confidence in who.


And lastly John 16: 33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

What is Faith?

I would like to share a verse with you. I have a couple different versions so that you know that I'm not lying.  Just ponder on these for a few minutes.

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews11:1 NLT
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

I guess the real question I would like to pose is, what is the OPPOSITE of faith?

Think about it for a minute.

Who said doubt, fear, or something like
that?

Pause for dramatic affect...

How about Certainty?

I was challenged the first time I heard Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church say this but as I have chewed on it over the last few weeks I have come to truly believe it.

If we are certain, we don't need faith.  If I am certain of exactly how, when, and where something was going to happen I wouldn't need faith in who is going to do it.  Faith is confidence of what is hoped for.  Hope means we don't know how or when or we wouldn't be hoping for it.  So we hope for it and then faith gives us the confidence in WHO!  I am confident in God, in His provision, in His ability.  I am not and cannot ever be certain of how,  when, or where or I would not need faith in Him.  I am definitely not certain of my own strength or ability.  All I can be is confident in Him and what He has called me to be and do.

I believe it is time to step out to do this thing. To do what God has told us to do and be confident in Him.  Do it now before He finds someone else to do it.