sit down you're shaking the boat

He said to them, "Where is your faith?"

This comes from Luke 8:25. It is Jesus' response to the disciples after he calms the storm before their eyes. They felt death closing in around them. They panicked the raging waters. They felt hopeless. They forgot who was in the boat with them, and what they had already witnessed Him do in the short time He was with them.

• the disciples (fisherman at the time) took in a miraculous catch at His command (5:1-11)
• a leper was cured of His disease through physical contact with Jesus (5:12-15)
• a paralytic walked away from an encounter with Jesus and received forgiveness of his sins (5:17-26)
• a tax collector left his wealth and riches to follow Jesus (5:27-31)
• the Pharisees are repeatedly foiled by the teachings of Jesus (5:20-24; 30-32; 33-39; 6:1-5; 11; 7:39-50)
• a man with a crippled hand finds it restored at Jesus' word (6:6-11)
• people came to hear, be healed, find freedom from evil spirits, and simply touch Him (6:17-19)
• a centurion's servant was healed by Jesus' command without Jesus being present (7:1-10)
• a widow's son came back to life during his funeral procession at Jesus' word (7:11-17)
• John was the Baptist was told Jesus is one the prophets spoke of (7:18-35)
• a morally and physically disgusting woman received forgiveness and salvation (7:36-50)

Not that Jesus needed a resume, but these events warranted the disciples' faith. And yet, it was missing.

Of course it is easy to jump on the disciples for their foolishness. We can say we would have responded differently if we were in their shoes. The reality is we are no better.

I flounder in the face of the high winds and raging waters. I panic. I feel hopeless. I forget who is with me. I doubt even what I know to be true.

In recent weeks, I have been asking myself "where is your faith?" I have the same "resume" as well as the full canon of Scripture and my own tastings of Christ's power to warrant complete faith in Him. There is nothing He is incapable of doing.

He can do for me what He did for the disciples in that boat. And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.

faithful to the end

Last night I started writing a post that was not coming together well. It was about my love for control, which often leads to realism pessimism when I cannot get a hold on it. I have found myself in that cycle for a good portion of the summer. I have a number of things I either need or want to do, but I cannot control the means by which they will get done. Naturally, my attitude has been far too pessimistic to the point where others are noticing and calling me out on it.

Then this morning we sang a song that really has nothing to do with control, but the first verse slapped me in the face anyways.

Precious cornerstone,

Sure foundation,

You are faithful to the end.

We are waiting on You, Jesus.

We believe You're all to us.

I do not need to be in control. Things do not need to be perfectly fitting together all the time. My foundation is secure. It is Christ.

In the twenty seven years I have been breathing, my Savior has been faithful to me. Every need has been met. Every time of struggle has been accompanied by grace and strength. Never have I been forsaken or left to fend for myself. O, you of little faith, why should I think this time will be any different? 

My job is to wait and trust. And sadly, I am about as good as that as I was when I was four. I want everything to work out right now so I can feel secure and in control. I forget that God is doing something far bigger than me. He is working His desires through me. He is making Himself known. He is bringing glory to His name.

For as I read just last week in Psalm 46:10,

Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!