Fortunately, none of the tasks or calamities have been overwhelming, but then that's sort of the point of the scriptural inspiration for this blog "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
When I finally got around to trying to write something I got to thinking about the great storm described in Matthew 8:23-26:
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?"My friend and pastor in Virginia, John Kuvakis, wrote a touching and thought provoking entry in his blog on April 8th entitled "More Lessons From Mom". In it he relates what seemed like a great tragedy about his Mother breaking her leg, but which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The break was serious due to her age, but relatively minor since in x-raying her leg they found her knees were almost completely degenerated. So they were able to deal with that condition before an even greater, life threatening accident might have occurred.
Pastor Kuvakis surmised, "How many times has God spared us from far greater pain or grief by walking us through something far easier? I had to ask myself, "How many times have I complained about my circumstances when I should have been thankful for them?""
At about the same time, coincidentally on Tax Day, Dr. James McDonald of "Walk Through The Word" ministry wrote an article about this same subject. He said it just about how I was thinking about it, but wrote much better than I could. So the remainder of this entry is from Dr. James McDonald's "The Weekly Walk" message entitled "Facing Uncertainty".
So, rejoicing evermore, I'll turn it over to Dr. James McDonald.
Facing Uncertainty
by Dr. James McDonald
15 April 2008
Why didn’t somebody tell me earlier in my life that I can’t fix everything? I thought that with due diligence, everything can get resolved. If there were things up ahead that concerned me, I could just make a plan to solve them. In time, I could have it all figured out and then set the automatic “good life” pilot and let it take over.
It’s only more recently that I have grasped that life will never be “together” this side of eternity. It’s hard to accept sometimes that perfect is only for heaven.
There will always be people problems. There will always be financial challenges.
There will always be a home burden, or a crisis of some kind. Every day I live in this world, there will always be some uncertainty ringing my doorbell.
So much for my assumption that if you worked hard enough, eventually everything would be sorted out, categorized, and put neatly on the shelf. I have never gotten to that day and what’s more, I now know it’s never coming.
In Matthew 8:23–24, we land in Jesus’ life on a day that perfectly illustrates the imperfections of human existence. “When he got into the boat, His disciplines followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm.” In the original language, the two words great storm can be translated to mega and seismic. As in, And behold, there arose a mega seismic on the sea, so that the boat was consumed by the waves.
It’s worth remembering that this description comes from Matthew, one of the disciples who wasn’t a fisherman. He had the terrified layman’s perspective on this storm!
I have a few questions about that whole scene:
1. Did Jesus not check the Weather Channel? He totally knew that storm was coming yet He led them right into it. Get in the boat, boys. He knowingly took them into harm’s way.
2. Could Jesus have stopped the storm before it started? Sure He could have but He let the storm come.
3. So is it true to say that He wanted the storm? I think we could surmise that He was actually looking forward to how He was going to use the storm in the disciples’ lives.
Let’s get our theology straight. Sometimes Jesus disguises exciting opportunities for personal growth as difficult circumstances. We would choose to avoid trials at all costs, but Jesus sees the bigger picture.
