Luke 8:22 One day He and His disciples got into a boat, and He told them, "Let's cross over to the other side of the lake." So they set out, 23 and as they were sailing He fell asleep. Then a fierce windstorm came down on the lake; they were being swamped and were in danger. 24 They came and woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to die!" Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. So they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were fearful and amazed, asking one another, "Who can this be? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey Him!"I know my title seems harsh, but I like controversy. And so you know, this blog is in response to me thinking about health-and-wealth, name-it-and-claim-it, word-faith preachers. And I refuse to qualify my title before I make my point.
When did Jesus perform the miracle? When they said they knew He could calm the storm? No. When they said, "Jesus, we believe"? No. It was when they woke Him up because of their lack of faith. They had no faith that He could fix it. It was simply the fact that misery loved company. They were upset that Jesus could sleep through their apparent death. When they woke Him up, He didn't tell them they had done the faithful thing by waking Him, He told them they had no faith. Faith did not bring about the miracle.
Where then would their faith have been found? In their trust that they would get to the other side regardless of the storms. Faith is found not, necessarily, in the miracle that gets us out of the jam, but in the perseverance that gets us through it.
Now, the qualification. Should we not pray for miracles? Sure we should. But we are not to depend on miracles, we are to depend on sustaining grace. We should pray for the faith to make it through, not just for the quick-fix that ends the problem.
If you are going through a struggle, pray for God to deliver you. But more so, pray for the faith to see you through the situation.
1 comment:
I confess, I quoted this the other day.
We have a wide variety of customers that come in looking for a book, and we sell a wide variety of books to appeal to them.
Often they engage me in conversation concerning faith, and one particular lady who was all about miracles asked me, so I gave her a little butchered version of:
Faith is found not, necessarily, in the miracle that gets us out of the jam, but in the perseverance that gets us through it.
Good thoughts.
Still praying for Summerlake. Updates?
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