Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell an incredible story. Found in chapters 8, 4, and 8 respectively, they tell of the time the disciples were out on the sea and Jesus slept soundly as the storm threatened to take their lives. We discussed these chapters in Bible study today and found it interesting that Jesus did not only rebuke the storm, but the waves also. We can very readily identify the storms in our lives. But what are the waves? The waves are simply symptoms of the storm. If Jesus would have simply commanded the storm to quit, the waves would still have had to die down, but it would have taken them a while. But no, He goes straight to the problem and fixes it, along with all of its consequences. Then He challenges them for having no faith in them.
How often am I begging God to simply mask my symptoms instead of actually dealing with my root problem? If I get fired from my job, it'd be good to pray for a new one. But I suggest that I should pray more about the reason I was fired and strive to fix that. If you got fired for cussing at your boss, getting a new job isn't going to fix that habit and chances are, you'll do it again. Fix the problems NOT the symptoms... antibiotics NOT tylenol!
so the question i leave. FIRST- Jesus calmed the storm and waves and IMMEDIATELY said, "where is your faith?" So. The question. Where is my faith? and how does it increase? how do I react in faith instead of in the flesh as the disciples did? What would I have done if acting in faith? Not anything at all? Should I still have woke Jesus up? and the granddad of em all.... self examination! How often am I going to the Lord instead of relying on myself and my own strength? 0-100%....
