Now on one of those days Jesus and His
disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other
side of the lake.” So they launched out.
But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind
descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. 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. (Luke 8:22-24)
What a contrast! On one side of the boat you have Jesus who
was fast asleep during the storm, His heart and mind at perfect peace. On the other side, you have His disciples running
around in panic mode, thinking they were goners, destined to become shark
food. (Just for the record, I would have
been in the “disciple” group.)
Why did they respond so
differently? I believe because they were
focusing on two different things. Jesus’
heart was focused on His Father. He was
confident in His Father’s ability to protect Him, so he paid no mind to the
storm. The disciples on the other hand,
were focused squarely on their circumstances - the storm raging around them.
Where is your focus when the storms of
life come? That’s an important question
because what you focus on will determine your level of peace or anxiety. Isaiah 26:3 says “You will keep in perfect
peace him whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts you.”
If we focus on our circumstances, the
result will be a fearful and restless heart.
However, if we focus our mind on our heavenly Father, the result will be
a heart at perfect peace no matter what is going on around us. That’s God’s promise!!
Sure, the storm may still rage, and
fear, doubt, and anxiety will try and creep in, but if we choose to trust Him and
cast our cares upon Him at those very moments, we may just find ourselves fast
asleep (in our Father’s arms) in the midst of the storm.
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