The love of God cultivates unconditional trust
The disciples are in a windstorm. The waves are so violent that experienced fishermen are fearing for their lives. In their desperation, they wake Jesus up and the first thing they say to him is, "Do you not care that all of us are about to die?!"
When we look carefully at the disciples response to the storm, it is not hard to see that they are questioning the love of God. They are accusing Jesus of really not caring about what is going to happen to them.
May I say that storms just have a way of bringing up all those deep doubts we have in our hearts regarding the love of God. On the surface we may think "My faith in God is strong. My trust in Christ is solid." However, the storms of life just have a way of going deep into our hearts and exposing our doubts and fears. The dire difficulties of life just have a way of reaching deep into our being and causing all those deeply buried fears and doubts to come to the surface. I truly believe God allows storms into our lives to cut through all the fluff that we call faith and spirituality so that He can begin to build something genuine and strong in our life.
Here is a thought that I find to be very powerful and encouraging.
Many years later every disciple in this boat except for two are going to die a brutal martyr's death.
Andrew and Philip are going to be crucified like Jesus. Peter is going to be crucified upside down. James, the son of Zebedee, is going to be beheaded. James, the son of Alpheus, is going to be clubbed to death. Thomas is going to be speared to death. Bartholomew is going to be skinned alive. Mathew is going to be chopped up with an axe.
I know the disciples demise are not pretty thoughts to think about, but the powerful thing is this:
as each disciple was being taken away to be martyred, there is not one record of them crying out, questioning the love of God. There is not one instance where any of the disciples lifted their voice to heaven and said, "Do you not care that we perish?!"
In Mark 4, in the face of death, they brought God's love into question. Yet, as they walked with Jesus in a very intimate, personal way, they came to the place, "Come what may, God's love is not in question. He loves me." They reached the place in their hearts, "No matter what happens to me, my heart is at rest in the love of God."
It is so beautiful to see that as these common, fearful men daily walked with the Savior, they came to a place where the love of God was a settled issue in their hearts. They came to that wonderful, precious place where their hearts were at rest in the love of Christ, no matter what adversity came their way.
This doesn't happen overnight. It happens as we walk with Jesus day by day. The assurance is, the same Spirit of Christ that worked in the disciples lives is the same Spirit at work in our hearts today.
Today, I read this verse in 2 Corinthians 7-10: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body.” Your devotional thought only enhances what these verses are saying in regards to trust in His love.
ReplyDeleteI am very blessed by your comment. The older I get the more I realize life is going to have its adversities and disappointments, but the precious presence of Christ in our lives strengthens us through it all. We are hard pressed but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; struck down but not destroyed. And through it all is revealed the resurrection power of Christ within us. Thank you, Jesus, for your precious presence in our lives.
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