They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?”
Luke 8:24 & 25
There is no doubt that we all live in some very troubling times. Between natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, we have terrorists murdering people all over the world, genocide being practiced by nations, and crazy gunmen mowing down people in attendance at a concert. What are we to do in these times of uncertainty where fear is the most natural response? According to God’s Word, we are to be sure our faith is in God and not the world around us that is perishing. Matthew 24 tells us of all the terrible signs that will occur prior to Christ’s return; many of them are what we are experiencing now in this generation. We are admonished by Jesus Christ to stand firm in our faith and devote ourselves to the spreading of the gospel message as we see the time approaching for His return. Despite the growing presence of evil and troubles, we need to be urgent in our efforts to stay faithful to God and the purpose of the coming of Christ, namely to save sinners while there is time to do so. (1 Timothy 1:15) The uncertainty of the times we live in challenge our faith as to who is “rocking our boat” of life. Just as the waves and winds were a real threat to the disciples in the boat with Jesus in Luke 8, so our world presents real threats to you and I. The real question is who is in control of all of this seeming madness, is it God or chance? If we are a people of faith, we know God is sovereign and in control of all things, using them for our good. (Romans 8:28) Do we live like a people who really believe this? Our God has every right to expect those who claim to be His followers, and have His Spirit in them, to have confidence that He is in absolute charge of things as He claims to in the Bible. Our task at hand in these days is to stand firm in our faith and to seek Him and His will for our lives as our top priority. (Matthew 6:33) His will is for us to all help others to find Him for salvation, and then help them to learn how to live for Him. (Matthew 28:18-20) We need to make this our focus in life as the opportunity to do so is quickly coming to and end I believe. Let us all ratchet up our faith and devotion to our very worthy Lord and not shrink back from serving Him. Let us walk and work in the Light He has given us while we can!
Pastor Gary Houdek