“Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid” You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” Matthew 8:23-27 (NLT)
“You have so little faith!” Oh boy, am I in that same boat with the disciples! I don’t know about you but I do much better when life is smooth sailing. So often when the deluge drenches my soul and the strong winds begin to batter my heart, I grasp at the air and quickly begin to sink. Thrashing in the waters of uncertainty, I’m pulled under by fear, doubt, worry, and shame…..I feel like I’m drowning because I have a little faith in a Big God.
It’s funny to me that in this world where bigger is better…..super-sized meals, houses the size of castles, lottery jackpots, stock portfolios….you get the idea….here, where we crave big, we so often overlook the greatness of God. I overlook the greatness of God! Like the disciples, in times of trouble I forget what He has done for me in the past and instead of turning to Him, I flail my arms, gasp for breath, and shout “why?”. “Why now?” “Why him?” “Why not?” I focus on my big problems and not on our Big God.
Just how big is our God?
“Have you not heard.? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)
It comes back once again to trust. Trust that our God is bigger than we can comprehend. He’s big enough to calm our storms. Big enough to bring us peace in the midst of our storms. Big enough to give us new strength to endure our storms. It isn’t easy keeping our heads above water when the waves are breaking over us, but I’m learning that it is in these times our little faith begins to grow bigger and with a bigger faith comes a better understanding that we can “soar like eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not faint”, and yes…… even swim through the turbulent waters, not on our own but with our Big God, the one, true Life Preserver.
Linking up with #livefreeThursday at http://www.tsuzanneeller.com again today. The prompt is “how big is our God”.