Through the Storm
Dear Beloved,
2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year. Every month we are presented with a different challenge. At first, there were the "World War Three" talks. Then Australia had an enormous wildfire that burned through 471,971 acres in 79 days. Now, we have COVID-19 causing a global pandemic.
It's so easy to get caught up in all that is going on around us. Especially when we start to see tragedy wherever we look. Despite global circumstances, it is crucial to keep our focus on God. The perfect example of this is Matthew 14:22-33. The overall message of this section is, "Focus on Me, not the storm."
Have you ever thought to yourself that the disciples must have been blind and had zero faith in Jesus? I mean, Jesus was physically next to them. They had witnessed Him perform many miracles. They trusted Him enough to leave behind everything and follow him. Yet, they still had a constant fear that something unfortunate would happen to their group. It's not hard to judge them. I mean, if it were you in their shoes, you would have never have doubted Jesus' ability to provide, right? Wrong.
Yes, the disciples had Jesus there to teach and guide them but, they were still worrisome. We’ve got to remember that when Jesus died the Spirit fell upon the earth to empower all believers. So just as the disciples had Jesus to guide them, we have the Spirit. We are a lot like them because we have the Holy Spirit and we still worry. We have everything we need to put our full trust in him, but we don't. In retrospect, we probably look just as ridiculous to the disciples as they do to us. We probably look even more ridiculous considering we have the resources we do. We have easy access to the Bible (including the New Testament, which the disciples didn't have). We also live in a country where we can believe whatever we want (If you live in America). The disciples were constantly thrown in jail and ridiculed for spreading the good news. There is so much that we have to our advantage, and we still walk around like headless chickens worrying about stuff that we could easily trust God with.
Now I know that I'm still a kid, so I don't have to worry about putting food on the table or paying bills yet, but there is no problem too big or too small for God to help us with. Mark 10:27 says "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Is he not the God of the universe? Did he not create the sun and the moon? Is our God not the one who creates the ocean and the sky and everything in-between? Then why is it that we struggle so much with releasing our burdens unto God? Psalm 55:22 "God is greater than the burdens you are carrying. Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you."
I don't know about you, but I find it much easier to trust God with what's heavy on my heart than to put the weight of the world on my shoulders.
“Come to Me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you the rest.”
