Handling the Storms of Life - 3

"'Teacher, don't you even care that we are going to drown?'  When he woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the water, 'Quiet down!'  Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.  And he asked them, 'Why are you so afraid?  Do you still not have faith in me?'  And they were filled with awe and said among themselves, 'Who is this man, that even the wind and waves obey him?'" - Mark 4:38b-41 (NLT).

Perhaps the hardest part of enduring storms is the feeling that no one cares.  The disciples didn't even think Jesus cared.  They said, "Teacher, don't you even care that we are going to drown?"

Our life is falling apart, but no one seems to notice; we are hurting inside, but even pastors and Christians aware of our situation seem apathetic; our heart aches, but even friends and family seem unconcerned.  When storms hit, we can feel abandoned and rejected by those around us.

The truth is that we have been so completely consumed by our storms that our point of view is often inaccurate.  Yes, people are sometimes apathetic, but often they do care, it's just that they don't know what to say or do.  They are praying for us, but sometimes forget to tell us about it; or they are doing all they can to help us, but feel powerless themselves.  They care, but perhaps don't express it.

But perhaps what hurts most of all is the thought that God does not care.  We have prayed, we have pled, we have petitioned his thrown, but nothing changes.  Inside, we begin to think that the Almighty does not care about us.  We begin to doubt his Word - - oh, not a bold denial, but a subtle doubt.  Then, if we are not careful, we drift away from him - - slowly, imperceptibly.  We may not even realize it at the time, but God is steadily becoming more distant from our minds.  Soon we wake up and find ourselves in the worst spiritual condition of our lives, and we blame God for it.

We drift from the church, and from Christians.  We just hurt inside, and wish God would do something.  We tell ourselves that if God would do something to help us, we will return to him, and serve him again.

There is only one antidote to this downward spiritual spiral - - trust.  There has to come a time in our hearts where we stop mouthing words of faith in God, and actually begin to trust him with our lives, hopes, and dreams.  This is the essence of faith.  The Greek Word, pistis, comes from the root word peitho which means to be persuaded.  We also get our English word "passion" from it.  So the resultant idea is that to have faith is to be passionately persuaded that God is who he claims to be, and loves us they way he says he does.  It is to be fully, passionately persuaded that he knows what is best for us and will come through for us in a way that seeks our highest good.  This is faith.

At some point in our spiritual lives, we must develop this faith, this trust in our God.  For "it is impossible to please God without faith.  Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).

When Jesus woke from his sleep to the despairing cry of his disciples he calmed the storm and asked, "Why are you so afraid?  Do you still not have faith in me?"

This is the ultimate question for the hurting heart?  Do you trust God?  Do you believe that he is looking out for you?  The answer is that it may not feel like it, but he is.

Feelings are often the bitterest enemy of faith.  Feelings betray us and our God.  Feelings tell us to quit, to hide, to run, to abandon God.  Feelings, in the midst of pain, cannot be relied upon.  Every feeling inside us may scream, "God, why have you abandoned me?  Why don't you care about me?" 

This is when we must say to ourselves, "Feelings aren't Lord, Jesus is Lord."  Faith must take over; for faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).  We must trust this God in whom we have professed to believe. 

When we hurt so bad that the world is an evil place to us; when we are dying inside and no one seems to notice or care; when our world is falling apart, but no one so much as calls us to see how we're doing; when we feel like the disciples, that God himself does not care that we are about to drown - - then, despite all our feelings to the contrary, we must believe.

We must trust.  We must have faith.  We must know deep within that God is doing what we cannot do, and that he is acting in our best interest, even if this means enduring more pain and uncertainty for a time.  In the end, faith says, "God knows what's best, and he will bring it to pass."

He will calm your storm as surely as he calmed the storm that dark night for his disciples.  Into your darkness he will bring light; into your chaos he will bring peace; into your lostness he will bring direction; into your pain he will bring soothing relief.

But will you trust him?  Will you take his hand no matter how you are feeling, and refuse to let go?

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