Good Morning Friends,
Today we look at three storms, one from Job in a whirlwind, one from Mark telling the story of the disciples on a boat in the Sea of Galilee with Jesus and one of the storms of a new creation referenced by Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, who as residents of a seaport town knew of more than a few shipwreck stories. We take them in sequence and start, as the writings of the Bible started with Job. For here we begin to consider why things happen as they do. So, we consider Job’s lament and response to life, and I for one do not blame him one bit. You see, after all the crying and sighing, moaning, and groaning of Job; after all the blaming and shaming, sharing, and tearing of his miserable comforters; then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind so we too might better understand. It is not some impersonal god, like Baal who cannot speak or be heard but God referred to as the “I AM” revealing himself in a series of 60 questions to us as YHWH, the Lord of the covenant. For we too, like Job, are to gird up our loins and respond to the questions, realizing that in their answering we are distracted from our perplexations and in some way our complaints are silenced. It humbles us, making us to stand in awe. Friends, life has storms and some of them are of our own making and some not. Regardless the problem is not new and is never completely resolved without forgiveness. We see the essence of the problem in the story of Job and the challenge to answer the questions of God while seeking righteousness in the stories of Paul and of Mark. Thankfully, Jesus points to a solution to the storms even as we ask today’s revealing question. Why Would We Be Afraid Of Life’s Storms If We Believe In God’s Love?
Scripture: Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? — when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?
Job 38:1, 8-11 (NRSV)
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Mark 4:35-41 (NRSV)
For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
2 Corinthians 5:14-17 (NRSV)
Message: Jesus had been preaching and teaching from the deck of a ship. After the benediction, and at His command, the disciples took Jesus in the ship, and departed for the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Soon a great storm arose, and even these hardy fishermen were at their wits end. Such storms are not uncommon on this inland sea. Surrounded by hills, and lying low in the land, a storm can whip up quickly. The fishermen were in their element, and within familiar waters, but this was one bad storm. All their skill and human resources left them with nothing but frustration and confusion. Yet our God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. The ship was already being swamped when the disciples woke Jesus. Fear, disorder, and panic had taken hold upon them, whilst Jesus slept on in calm and peaceful repose. “Do you not care?” asked the disciples. Jesus was physically exhausted: it is not surprising that He had fallen asleep, on a pillow in the stern. This, incidentally, proves that Jesus is truly man. But unlike Jonah who was likewise summoned from sleep in a ship during a storm, Jesus spoke with the voice and authority of God to still the storm and calm the sea. The disciples had a fair idea who Jesus was, but had not sufficient faith to recognize that having their Master in the ship was, for them, enough. Perhaps the disciples still did not understand. Perhaps the light was beginning to dawn when they asked who he was. And the thing is that for us, too, there might be times when chaos, fear, disorder, panic, and confusion seem to take hold of our lives. We might want to ask where God is in all the events. Yet if we have any idea of just who Jesus is – and who He is to us – we must know that He is with us, even in the storms of life. He speaks to the storm; He speaks to the disorder in your life; He speaks to the evil which threatens to overwhelm us. He speaks over us the word of His power and authority: “Peace, be still”.
And So, maybe I have asked a question and left it for the most part unanswered, perhaps because I cannot answer for you. But in the asking it becomes clearer that the fullness of the Gospel cannot just be talked about and reasoned over. If there is no resurrection in our experience of life the whole thought of forgiveness is meaningless. The connection between question and answer must be experienced through and in what we believe. What we hope for must be loved into being with the renewing of our mind as we become new creatures. As with Paul’s letter to the Corinthians,’ the message is not about logically deducing God’s character of love, justice, and mercy. We will never be transformed by just thinking about Jesus or reading about Jesus, though it is not a bad start. Some things must be completed in a first-hand experience, and this is one of them. And because some have not yet experienced God’s grace for themselves, we need to appeal for people to embrace Christ fully and how this occurs is not so important as we might think. You see, in holding up Christ in even small ways we let His grace not just bring us forgiveness but a transformation in life’s storms. We are being called to see the world through new eyes friends, but to do that, we need to be transformed by Christ and sometimes storms help us to seek the peace of Christ the more. For once we witness His power firsthand, then we can go out and more effectively ambassador for Christ and see the experience of life as new creation beyond the storm.
Pray we forgive one another. Pray we are always open to grace and its daily manifestation in our own lives, and in the lives of others. Pray we appreciate the wonder of God’s creation and for God’s patience with us for not condemning us and for accepting us as we are in Christ Jesus. Pray we are given help to hold on to our relationship with God no matter what befalls us. Pray our hearts are open to experience God in all things. Pray we see the synergy of God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Gift of the Holy Spirit working in and through us during life’s storms.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 