Where is Your Faith?

I don't know if you have ever felt this way but at times in my life certain things have happened which made me feel as if I have very little faith. There are moments where I have felt as if I was being tossed back and forth like a boat pitching in the middle of a hurricane on the high seas.

Each time I have felt this way, I have had my eyes on the storm of circumstances around me, at the seemingly endless onslaught of water pouring into my vessel, seeking to overwhelm me and fill me with fear, doubt, confusion, and most of all like I am sinking further into despair. But God in His patient way would simply lift my head, much like a father does to a small child, until I am face to face, looking straight into His eyes, my own eyes fixed on Him and then He reminds me that He is always with me.

In Matthew 28:20, Jesus makes a bold promise, "...And remember that I am always with you until the end of time." (God's Word Translation.) I love how even in the middle of some of the most difficult circumstances I have ever faced, He reassures me of this. I also love how He leads me to scripture that so adequately describes where I am and what He is trying to work out in me.

In Luke, there is an account of the many, many miraculous things that Jesus did while He was a man. In chapter four, Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law, then He heals many more and casts out demons. Jesus picks four of the disciples, Peter and Andrew, James and John by helping them catch a ton of fish that took two boats to haul in and almost broke their nets. Then he heals a leper, a paralytic, calls Matthew, heals a man with a shriveled hand, calls the other apostles, heals a multitude, heals the centurion's servant, raises a widow's son from the dead, and gave some of His most famous teachings such as the Beattitudes, the parable of the sower, the wise and foolish builders to name a few and all this by Luke chapter 8 where we come to the particular part of the word that spoke to me about these times where I feel like I lack faith.

Luke 8:22 starts telling a story about how Jesus and his disciples got in a boat and set out to go to the other side of the lake. Jesus falls asleep and while he is passed out, a squall comes down on the lake and it is so bad that they are in danger of sinking. And Jesus never once wakes up throughout this turn of events so the boys decide to wake Him up and tell Him they are all going to die. Jesus looks at them and tells the storm to quit, it does, and then He says, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid because the storm obeyed Jesus and they wondered at who He was.

In that moment the disciples had their faith in the boat that was failing them. It was being overtaken by the storm and they were going to die because that vessel couldn't handle the circumstances that had come upon it within the squall. They were looking at the water, the wind, and the waves, much like I have done at times. They weren't looking at who was with them. Matter of fact they really didn't know at that point who was really with them.

See Jesus had no intention of waking up in the middle of that storm. If He did then He would have gotten up on his own and taken care of business but no- He wasn't going to wake up because He knew the storm wasn't the end of His mission or in fact that it held no power over Him. And so we have Him at complete peace. But because they were afraid, He stopped the storm. He looked at them and questioned their faith because they didn't understand who He was.

Remember this is is after Jesus healed multitudes, cast out demons, raised the dead, they had seen numerous miracles and still yet did not realize that Jesus being with them was enough. They could have sailed through the storm and made it to the other side with that faith.

And that's where I find myself at times, even though I have seen the Lord do so many things in my life, I have been afraid that the circumstances will overtake me and my family would drown. Because my faith has been in my own strength and what I can do to navigate through it instead of on the fact that Jesus is with me. When I refocus and simply look into His face, I can rest like He rested in the middle of the storm because there is that unmistakable knowledge that He is with me.

And He is with you too if you believe in Him. If you have been struggling like this then be encouraged! He loves you and will never leave you. Take a moment to fix your eyes back on Him and remember that He is with you and in Christ alone is where our faith needs to be.

Father, Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." (NIV.) One version of this scriptures says, "...whose faith is firm." We are never meant to be overwhelmed by the things that surround us but we are meant to overcome those things by that which is within us, the very presence of the Living God whose love encompasses us and is always with us even until the end! Help us to trust in You alone and know that we never go alone. You are always, always with us and that is why our faith will ever be in You. Thank you for your unfailing love. Amen.



Bethany