The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" -Matthew 8:25-27
As life goes on we must be aware of the tendency to become jaded. Do you know what that means? Jaded means that we get to a place where we are uncaring, bored, and we have lost our zeal for living. How does this happen? I think I know the answer: we allow the trials, problems, and stresses of life to wear us down to the point where we stop caring. We reach a place where nothing excites us anymore. Life goes on and somehow we lose the wonder of being alive and experiencing all that God has in store for us.
Over the years I have become keenly aware of how this desensitizing process comes about. Life isn’t always fair, our plans don’t always turn out like we had hoped, people will sometimes let us down, and we feel bombarded on every side with problems and stress. The challenge is to trust God, rise up, move forward, and recapture the joy of living. This is not an impossible task, but rather through faith in Jesus Christ can be accomplished – today and every day. Whatever you are facing right now might appear bleak and maybe hopeless, but I assure you it isn’t. As the Lord has promised, He will bring you through whatever storm you are facing and will lift you on to a brighter day.
Jesus’ disciples were human beings with flaws, problems, and shortcomings just like me and you. One aspect of their character that was in their favor, however, was that they never lost their child-like wonder at the amazing power of the Lord. After seeing Jesus perform miracles of healing and speak unlike anyone they had ever met, they were still stunned at His power to calm the wind and waves of the sea. With a word the storm they were facing become calm and peace was restored.
My personal prayer is that I too never lose that wonder at the power of God working in my life. God forbid that we yawn in the face of the marvelous works of the Lord and stop being amazed at the power of His grace. Today is a new day, life is waiting, new experiences are there for the taking, and new victories are within our grasp. By faith we can rise up and attain the blessings that Christ has in store for us.
Feeling down and defeated? Jesus calls to us from within the storm to fear not. With a word He can calm the storm and howling winds of doubt and fear that assault us. All will be peace and calm with the Lord Jesus.
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