Monday, February 8, 2010

February 8, 2010

"Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd." Matthew 14:22
We had a whopper of a storm over the week-end. I came from the northern mid-west where snow was common, but I haven't seen many storms like this! Now, there is a threat of another smaller storm coming through tomorrow. So, this is the day between the storms.
That is a good analogy for life. Much of life is spent between the storms. If you are not in a storm now, you will be. I am not being pesimistic, I am just being real!
In this portion of Scripture, the disciples were headed for a storm. Through this week in my posts on this blog, I am going to share with you some Lessons on the Lake, truths that they learned while in the storm on the lake.
A storm is a terrible thing to waste. If you have to weather a storm, you had best learn from it! I want to help you by sharing these daily lessons from the lake.
The first lesson is seen in verse 22 where Jesus put them into a boat and sent them off on the lake. That sets the stage for the first lake lesson:
LAKE LESSON #1 - When You Are In A Storm It Helps To Know You Are In His Boat
For the purposes of this lesson we are going to imply that the boat represents the will of God. I think that is a safe assumption since it was Jesus Who put them in the boat.
If you are in the midst of a storm right now, let me ask you, "Do you know that you are in the right boat?" If you are in a storm and you are in the will of God, that makes ALL the difference! If you are between storms in your life or if you see the storm clouds forming on the horizon, it would be a great time to stop and make sure you get in the right boat!
There are those who would claim that if you are in His boat then you will never be in a storm. They believe that it is God's responsibility to keep you safe, warm and dry and the only boat He would give you would be a yacht! Their theology states that God's responsibility to His people is make sure they have smooth sailing.
That theology just doesn't track with life nor does it mesh with this Scriptural account. The disciples were in the boat by the will of God and set sail in obedience to Him.
Lake lesson number assures us that when we are in the storm by His will, we can be sure of his protection! Do you believe that? Faith floats!